Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1506448
11 NEWS maltatoday | SUNDAY • 27 AUGUST 2023 overtourism wipes off the Maltese smile ture. Because we need all types – the ageing tourists, the bucket- and-sand holidaymakers, and the champagne conference-goers... even the summer clubbers are im- portant spenders." The boastful figures of Malta's post-COVID tourism recovery keep confirming the attraction of the island for the tourists who, holiday-tinted glasses firmly on, are blind to the effects of tourism growth on the population. Malta's singular point of attrac- tion keeps being its size, and the ability to reach one attraction after the other in the space of 20 minutes. It's the tapas of the tour- ism world. "It can offer something different to people with different desires," Fenech says. "They don't come for just one thing – they love our small size because they can spend a day at the temples, then then the beach, and then the clubs." There's nothing to rubbish about this singular aspect of the Mal- tese tourism product. But are the Maltese really going to have cope, some day, with 5 million arrivals each year simply because of inves- tors' hunger for more beds, taller hotels, and the largesse of Malta's erratic planning regime? Tourism fatigue Prof. Marie Avellino, of the University of Malta's Institute for Tourism, Travel and Culture, knows what overtourism looks like. In a 2019 study with econo- mist Lino Briguglio reflecting on the doubling of tourism arrivals over a decade, she said an online survey of 400 respondents sug- gested the fatigue from "overtour- ism" – a situation where a majority would like tourist numbers to de- crease – had set in. In response to the statement "I wish to see more tourists in the town/village where I reside" only 18% of the respond- ents agreed that they wished to see more tourists in their town or vil- lage, while 51% of the respondents disagreed. The remaining 31% were undecided. Not surprisingly, respondents who live in high-tourist-density localities were less likely to de- sire more tourists in their com- munities than the average and expressed a higher degree of as- sociating tourism with social dis- comfort. "Overtourism is when locals, and our non-native population, feel their quality of life is being reduced by tourism," Prof. Avel- lino says. "I was shocked at the Deloitte report's numbers, be- cause it is based on the supply, the amount of people we can fit. But you must factor in the infrastruc- tural strain – garbage, roads, sew- age, energy – and the amount of foreign labour required to service tourism, which itself comes with stories of exploitation." Where does one draw the line? Studies like those of Avellino and Briguglio reveal how buzzwords such as 'sustainability' adorn so many tourism policies approved under different administrations, yet in practice sustainability "was often only lip service only, and the success of the industry was gener- ally measured in terms of tourist numbers by the tourism authori- ties." And this means that dependence on mass tourism continues una- bated. Indeed, very little, if at all, is done to reverse this trend. For example, capping the number of pleasure boats and tourists arriv- ing in the Blue Lagoon is consid- ered crucial to control ecological damage in the protected site, but a commitment undertaken over seven years ago to establish the beach's carrying capacity has not been implemented. Back in 2016, the majority of those visiting the Blue Lagoon arrived by means of organised cruises (between 3,500- 4,000) with another 1,000 using water taxis from Ċirkewwa, Mġarr and Sliema. And the challenge of desiring larger tourism volumes while fighting off the threat of gentrifica- tion and property price increase is also felt in Gozo, where the Gozo Regional Development Authority (GRDA) is also carrying out its own carrying-capacity study. Similarly to the Maltese experi- ence, the greater dependence on a fast and cheap labour force has meant a rise in foreign workers: the 2021 Census finds the town of Żebbuġ, which includes the sprawling Marsalforn seafront, doubling in population to over 3,300 in 2021 over the last decade, with the locality's foreign popu- lation exploding from just 125 to 1,371 – 42% of the Żebbuġ popu- lation, up from 7% ten years ago. So, is it about only managing the development of tourism – as Fenech suggests. What about managing the people's quality of life first – for what is a serene Maltese tourism product if its in- habitants dislike the place they welcome tourists to? Prof. Avellino says the tourism industry needs democratisation, one that involves the active par- ticipation of residents and local communities, rather than simply being driven by investors' whims. "It's not an easy policy to carry out, due to the conflicting interests and agendas involved in tourism. Business interests often seeking short-term gains rather than social responsibility, and politicians of- ten try to gain political mileage by boasting about tourism numbers," Prof. Avellino says. Quality tourism misnomer Nothing could be more con- tradictory than a recent rant by former prime minister Lawrence Gonzi about the lack of 'quali- ty tourists' (the Sun's diatribe on Paceville was the springboard) while boasting of tourism growth under his tenure when Malta opened up to low-cost airlines. "The quality tourist is a misno- mer," Prof. Avellino says. "Every- one in Malta thinks they're an ex- pert in tourism of course – that's what I tell students who get asked why they are reading for a de- gree in tourism – but it's a very short-sighted way of treating the subject of tourism in Malta. Be- cause not enough people criticise the hotels, restaurants or the en- tertainment business driven to make a buck. And you'd expect the direction to come from the top, not the bottom." Philip Fenech says Malta must learn how to manage yet anoth- er wave of changing tourism. He points at the towering Mercury high-rise, the luxury skyscraper built by magnate Joseph Portelli that now serves as the gateway to what was once a trashy patch of clubland. "To me it's looking like a mini-Manhattan… wait till the other towers and edifices are built. The tacky parts will automatically lose out." It will be renewed gentrification, a story of capitalism's repeat for- mula on not just lucrative areas like Paceville, but even in small towns where the boutique hotels start attracting restaurants tempt- ing patrons with two-course meals and wine at €80 a head. How long can towns and villages losing out to 'luxury' development survive this kind of inflationary effect? "It's a free market," Fenech says, resigned to its logic. "If someone wants to charge for that demand and people go, that's it... but my advice is for people to be reasona- ble, and not go overboard." mvella@mediatoday.com.mt Philip Fenech Marie Avellino