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maltatoday SUNDAY 15 APRIL 2018 26 Malta stands to be the net loser among European countries when, according to a bleak report on climate change and tour- ism just published by Deutsche Bank Re- search, climate change will drive tourists away to cooler countries in 20 years' time. In the study, Malta is singled out as the European country to be most seriously affected by global warming by 2030, when the most important industry for the island will be depleted of tourists who will be choosing Denmark, Germany, the Benelux countries and the Baltic States. "Negative climatic consequences always have particularly serious effects if climate-sensitive tourism has major eco- nomic importance," the authors report. "In Europe this applies to Malta, Cyprus, Spain, Austria and Greece. … The Medi- terranean region, with its focus on seaside and beach holidays, loses attractiveness if there is an increased number of heat waves in the summer months." Written for the research arm of the leading and influential German bank, 'Climate change and tourism: Where will the journey lead?' maps out the changing tourist routes in the next two decades. Higher temperatures and water short- ages are expected to put off tourists in the high season. Malta's high economic dependence on tourism, which places the industry as the number one contributor to national GDP, means the problem will be further aggravated. The report also spells out the disas- trous fate of countries which bank on golf courses as tourist facilities; as these already face longer, drier periods deplet- ing their water supplies, while cultural and health tourism remain independent of climatic factors. "While the classic summer package holiday in the Mediterranean tourist centres will noticeably suffer from ris- ing temperatures, city trips, which are mainly enjoyed in the spring and autumn months, are generally independent of climatic changes. This is also true of cultural tourism, 'wellness' holidays and any other types of theme travel. One thing is fundamentally valid: the more the main reason for selecting a holiday destination is that the holidaymaker hopes for 'good weather' or favourable conditions for par- ticular weather-dependent activities, the more impact – in both the positive and negative senses – the climate will have on the region concerned in the future." While Europe is the most important tourist region in the world, with around 55 per cent of all international tourist arrivals, or 461 million in 2006, southern Europe and the Mediterranean region rank also as the favourite holiday destina- tions in Europe. Yet the long, hot and dry summers attracting millions will soon be turning people away as temperatures exceeding comfortable levels will become frequent in the future. "It is estimated that, by 2030, the region will have a noticeable increase in the number of days with temperatures above 40 degrees C." The authors say the negative climatic consequences will have particularly seri- ous effects for Malta. "All things considered, the tourism in- dustry is looking back at turbulent times," the report says, adding that unlike natural disasters or terrorist attacks, climate change is not just a short-term effect that could be quickly forgotten. "Rather, climate change will permanently alter the attraction of some holiday regions". Outside Europe, the poor countries are prone to suffer most: while they are putting great hopes on tourism for their development, climate change will bring additional burdens leaving only Canada, New Zealand and the US as the only three countries outside Europe whose tourism will be on the winning side. MTA spokesman Kevin Drake did not read the report but said the conclusions were "quite logical". "Both Malta and Cyprus are bound to suffer," he said. A similar study published in the UK reached the same conclusions. "In 20 years' time, summers in Scandina- via and Germany will be sought after due to global warming". Although the issue will have to be faced eventually, the MTA is more focused on the next couple of years ahead, Drake added, although he admitted that the entire strategy would have to be revised if the report's scenarios do materialise. "There are no hard facts confirming that this is exactly what will happen. There's only so much one can do about global warming. In the event of knowing for sure that this is what is going to happen, then we would have to change our entire busi- ness model." Send your letters to: The Editor, MaltaToday, MediaToday Ltd. Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann SGN 9016 | Fax: (356) 21 385075 E-mail: newsroom@mediatoday.com.mt. Letters to the Editor should be concise. No pen names are accepted. Boiling point: How Malta's summers will soon turn people away Opinion News – 16 April, 2008 201820172016 201520142013 201220112010 2009 2008 Public transport accidents Who's taking whom for dummies? A new cult Reference is made to reports in the media related to traffic accidents involving buses. Malta Public Transport would like to make the following clarifications based on preliminary investiga- tions: 1. In the accident on the 27th March in Tal-Barrani road, Tarxien, the bus involved in the accident was passing through an intersection while the traffic lights were green. An image taken from the CCTV footage seconds before the collision is being attached. 2. In the accident on the 28th March in Mellieħa, the bus involved in the accident was stationary at a bus stop alighting and boarding passengers when vehicles collided into the rear side of the bus. There was only one bus involved in this accident. Malta Public Transport puts safety at the forefront of its op- eration and fully cooperates with the authorities in investigating such accidents. David Falzon Communications Executive MPT For years, prior to PL's victory in 2013, a number of companies making up Keith Schembri's business empire consistently posted losses. Then Schembri had the whistle blown on him in the Panama Papers, where it was implied that the man had the nearest thing to a treasure trove stashed away in havens from the BVI right across to the other end of the world. A few weeks ago while giving testimony in court under oath, Schembri asserted that the choice he made to serve as Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister was made out of a sense of duty he felt he owed to the country and not from any money-driven motivation. To provide iron-clad proof of this, he said that had that been the case he would have remained running his companies which were on a long-running roll. This jars pointedly with what his compa- nies' audited accounts bear witness to. Who's taking whom for dummies? Joe Genovese Birkirkara Poetic Irony As a country, we hardly realise what literary talent we apply when it comes to loving Malta and its tourists. We are experts in the application of poetic irony even if we hardly understand the difference between the dramatic or the tragic. Our authorities have been applying po- etic irony in relation to the tourists who visit Bugibba/Qawra since the time when some intelligent committee had baptised one of the most important roads in the area as "Tourists Street". For those who are not very familiar with this part of Malta, I can describe this road as one of the most important routes that many tourists have to go through many times during their short holiday stays. It is a long street, starting from where the Qawra church is situated and ending near the seafront in Qawra Bay. It is narrow with cars parked on both sides. It is a one-way street, so there is no way you can escape from the turmoil you will find yourself in once you have to go through it. It is important. Besides the church, there is an old people's home, big hotels, and many restaurants and bars. Being the place where the bus station is, the big buses go through it, not to mention the countless private coaches that carry the tourists during their first visit and at the end of their holidays. The sound of klaxon horns when everyone gets stuck gives some humour to the scene. Many times, it becomes a pedestrian area because people can hardly walk on pavements. And with the little open space recently taken up by the big hotel near the Police Station, we are made to believe that Tourists Street is being enhanced, or is it? But the cherry on the cake is the bad state of the street. This has been neglected for a good part of the last 15 years or for as long as I can remember. The authorities, notably the local council of St Paul's Bay, the Malta Tourism Authority and all the others take pride at how much they have contributed towards the increase in the number of tourists in the area. I believe they live in Alice's Wonderland. I am sure that not one of them has taken a stroll along Tour- ists Street in Bugibba/Qawra. If they do now, they will see a place which is totally different from the one they have in mind. How ironic to be promoting tourism that is made to go through Tourists Street without having the slightest idea of how bad its state is! George Calleja Attard At this time of the year, a new cult is pro- moted in Malta's crowded calendar of feasts: the so-called cult of "divine mercy". This cult is the product of subjective, hal- lucinatory "visions", dating back to the 1930s, of an obscure Polish nun called Sr Faustina. The promoters of this cult admit that, for 20 years, her "writings" – which amounted to nothing more than notes in her diary – "were included in the list of forbidden books" by the Vatican. Here's an entry from her diary: "On divine mercy Sunday, all the divine floodgates through which graces flow are opened wide." Meanwhile, nine million children under the age of five die every year. The nun's lost "cause" was revived by her Polish compatriot, Pope John Paul. He went on to "canonise" her in order to flatter his fellow Poles, just as he "beatified" the now forgotten Adeodata Pisani and Nazju Falzon in order to flatter the Maltese people during his visit to Malta. Restless Catholics are always hankering after new cults and new saints to whom they can beg for more "graces" and "miracles". Their current fad of the dead Sr Faustina has replaced that of Sr Alacoque. John Guillaumier St Julian's