Malta in the past was very conscious of attracting quality tourism, yet recently one notices a gradual degradation in the quality tourists.  Authorities are hoping that over 3.3 million visitors will be welcomed being an increase over last year.  Statisticians tell us there is safety in numbers, yet so far nobody bothers about over capacity.  

MHRA suddenly woke up to point at the danger of over tourism and the need for better control on new licenses for hotels.  The island could see an additional 483 hotels crop up if all the planned tourism accommodation projects in the pipeline ever come to fruition. 

The information was shared during the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association, latest hospitality forum during which a presentation by Deloitte discussed the situation of hotel occupancy. Inter alia, the study revealed how a vast majority of these planned new accommodations (41%) are designed to be 3-star offerings, which means such projects might not necessarily align with the national vision to accommodate "high quality" tourists.  Currently the per capital spend by tourists is a low €134 daily.  

At this junction hosting a deluge of “hamburger” class arrivals, Deloitte exclaimed concern about how the majority of the 3-star and other planned accommodations which are set to have less than 100 rooms, throwing into question whether these can actually survive in the long term.  Doing the sums, unless they employ low-wage TCN’s, even new 5-star accommodation may not be sustainable. For many years, established hotels and other stakeholders in the tourist industry are concerned about their share of the cake dwindling.

This share is diminishing with the planned permits for large scale new builds.  Another MHRA study revealed a shocking message that the island would need to see 4.7 million tourists a year to keep its present occupancy rates afloat.  It is good to remind readers, that regrettably we see Comino (a unique blue lagoon beach) being flooded with day trippers, dirtying the environs, all dancing to loud dance music provided by five authorised kiosks selling spirit imbibed grapefruits.

Politicians are being asked to step in and control what has been dubbed the effects of mass tourism on a 320 square kilometre island, including noise and dust, traffic congestion, sewage outflows and environmental pollution.  Reforms were promised each year by Castille to carrying out upgrades but this year there are no extra funds allocated since the country now faces an excessive deficit warning from Brussels.  Another parallel problem is over-population which again this summer has led to persistent power cuts (sporadically supplemented by ad hoc noisy diesel generators parked outside residential areas and clinics). 

Prime minister recently blames the lack of time needed to upgrade distribution but also blames such blackouts due to the use of electric cars (so far only 3.3% of total ICE fleet) together with a recently installed one “shore to ship” electricity service to a cruise liner. No doubt, recent summer blackouts add to infrastructure pressures such as traffic and sewage issues. The never-ending flow of third country low wage earners heightens the need for more low-cost residential dwellings to house them. This, in turn, contributes to the overdevelopment and uglification of the island and high property prices.

Commentators also referred to sewage issues as a key problem, with stakeholders saying sewage networks are operating “vastly beyond designed capacity in certain key areas” which often results in sewage seeping into the sea. e.g. just to mention a popular Balluta bay which for two months warned bathers to avoid swimming after testing positive to contamination. Can we do something to turn back the clock. Yes, just notice how competitors in the central Mediterranean, such as Spain and Venice started a policy to disincentivise excessive tourism in certain periods, in line with the fragility and uniqueness of the resorts.  Needless to remind readers about rallies in the Canary Islands where residents have highlighted problems of over-tourism.

They also increasingly want a better type of tourist: one who respects local culture and nature, not one who drinks cheap beer on the beach and leaves their empty bottle behind with a cigarette butt stubbed in the sand.  According to tourism researcher and Aalborg University professor Carina Ren, there have always been badly behaved tourists; it's just that there are more of them now than ever. 

This year, in Barcelona, local authorities have taken the unusual step of removing a bus route from Google Maps to stop tourists jumping on board, elbowing out elderly locals in the process.  In Spain's Balearic Islands, renowned for nightlife destinations such as Ibiza and Magaluf, restrictions on alcohol have come into force in a bid to regain control over its disorderly streets. Moving on, we note how in heavily visited Venice, day trippers now are charged a fee to try to stem the flow of unending visitors. Whereas, in Malta citizens simply grumble in silence, and air their grievances on social media, yet they never unite and march to Valletta voicing their anger against a regular degradation in the environment. 

On the contrary, a slew of anti-tourism protests have taken place in Spain in recent months.  It is true that Spain’s laggard economy cannot survive without tourism which now represents nearly 12% of Spain’s economy, but locals have started pressuring governments to put measures in place, hoping to reduce number of visitors. Venice has in turn launched a pilot plan to charge day-trippers five euros wanting to enter the city, whereas Malta charges a puny rate of 0.5 euro daily.  In turn, Venice City Council has announced it will limit the size of walking tour groups and ban the use of loudspeakers.  

The new regulations started to come into effect last month in Venice's historic centre, as well as the islands of Murano, Burano and Torcello. Can we learn from other resorts to live a quieter life and protect our sensitive ecosystem, before Mother Nature starts hitting us back with climate change and its dire consequences.