The parliamentary secretary for tourism is weathering a drop in tourist arrivals but has accepted to take up MEPA reform. Can MARIO DEMARCO handle both? He says he hopes he can multitask
Matthew Vella
One global financial crisis and yet another epidemic concocted by the evil brains of a pharmaceutical company. It seemed everyone was looking into the eye of the storm, with hoteliers resting their gloomy faces on unmanned reception desks, dreaming of sunburnt Brits who had instead chosen to take their holidays in Skegness, on advice of prime minister Gordon Brown.
Or maybe not so, as tourism parliamentary secretary Mario Demarco points out, who apart from the perspiration that appears have deflowered his shirt in this torrid heat, is pretty much at ease.
Things were looking bad in July, as hoteliers started fearing that they would not fill up their hotels in August, with bookings down by 50%. But Demarco says this was all in line with the fact that tourists were booking much more later on in the day. He quotes a litany of major hoteliers who found that the tide had turned and the day was saved. Such as Winston Zahra, chairman of the Island Hotels Group, who said he expected August to close with high occupancy in his three hotels and within the same parameters of 2008; Ian Decesare, chairman of the Eden Leisure Group, who said occupancy will be higher than in August 2008; and Kevin Decesare, MRHA president, who said feedback from hoteliers was that they had almost managed to fill up their hotels, although they had to think up offers and lower rates.
“Essentially, the trend of late bookings, which we saw at the beginning of the year, was fuelled firstly by the element of uncertainty. Tourists from source markets, such as the UK which experienced a recession, are unsure of their employment prospects. So this makes it harder for them to actually plan a holiday. Thomas Cook had in fact launched an offer back in March to fully refund any deposit made for a holiday booking in summer, if clients were to become redundant by June.
“Secondly, tourists are becoming more savvy nowadays. They know that the closer they leave their booking to the departure date, the more likely it is that they will get a better offer.”
Another hotelier however, Michael Zammit Tabona, had harsher words for the minister, saying that funds for the Malta Tourism Authority had dried up, even for low-cost carriers to open up new routes. Were such grave accusations entirely incorrect?
“I believe he is wrong. This is the same Michael Zammit Tabona who just a month earlier, had invited the Prime Minister and myself, as well as the media, to inaugurate a new wing in his hotel. He had in fact declared that the first five months of the year had been better for him than in 2008. Now we have to recognise that there was a drop in tourist arrivals, but it came as a surprise to me that Michael Zammit Tabona was lamenting this when he himself was rightly proud that his hotels had not experienced this drop.”
On the other hand, Demarco says it’s absolutely not the case that marketing funds at MTA had finished, citing the fact that its TV campaign was still ongoing in July when it traditionally stopped in May. And marketing was still going on with a campaign on the print media in the UK, Spain and Italy, and that he had authorised MTA to use up its winter campaign money for the summer, given the trend towards late bookings.
“This year we had a record €28 million budget. The finance ministry authorised an additional €1 million when we requested it, so MTA’s marketing campaign is going according to plan. There hasn’t been a situation where MTA couldn’t do some marketing because of lack of funds, or that we did not accept to open new routes for a low-cost carrier because of a lack of funds. This week Ryanair opened a new route to Leeds-Bradford. This summer we have the same seat capacity as last summer thanks to new routes we opened this year. Nobody, I think, can rightly accuse MTA of not opening new routes.”
At the same time, national carrier Air Malta still encountered drops of over 7% in passengers in June and over the past six months over 2008. How would that affect the rest of the season?
“So far the drop in tourism arrivals between January to June is 13%. Other destinations are experiencing similar drops. Malta’s drop in June was 11% in arrivals compared to 2008; Spain had a drop of 10%, the Canary Islands had a drop of 21%, Cyprus’s drop was 15%. So we have to be realistic about the fact that there are fewer people travelling. And even though Air Malta saw a drop of 6% in passengers between January and June, Brussels Airline had a 14% drop, Iberia had a 15% drop, and other big carriers such as Lufthansa and Air France had drops of 6%.”
Demarco does concur that the national carrier is still open to accusations that its price structure is still too high for it to compete with low-cost carriers (LCCs). But he also says that in a recent comparison between LCCs and British Airways, when you include the hidden extras – baggage handling, credit card fee, buying lunch on the plane – you come up to the price of your average legacy carrier.
“Is it justified or not?” he asks himself, referring to the prices of legacy carriers. “I’m not in a position to say if it is so. But the drop Air Malta suffered is better than the European average and in line with what larger carriers have suffered, and much lower than other legacy carriers.”
Demarco adds that NSO statistics point out that 30% of tourists to Malta are repeat traffic, one of the highest levels in most destinations. “I’d be foolish to say that our product is perfect. There’s a lot that requires improving. But the fact is we had record arrivals in 2007 and we nearly hit the 1.3 million arrivals mark in 2008. So I don’t think our product is that bad if until last year we had a record year. If it was as bad as we want to make it out to be, we would have had a drop earlier on and not this year… which also means we must be doing something right. I’m not saying we should rest on our laurels – we must keep on investing in our product.”
But how does the island fail to make it in some crucial rankings for holiday destinations, I ask, citing Tripadvisor.com’s rankings, where Malta does not feature in either Europe’s top 40 destinations for history and culture, top 20 for beaches, top 10 for family friendly destinations, or top 15 spas. Doesn’t this confirm Malta’s invisibility in the popular tourist’s imagination?
De Marco interjects to point out I had missed that we are rated one of the top island destinations in the Mediterranean, which thankfully, is the one ranking Malta certainly could not miss out on.
“I fully agree with you. It would be a mistake to keep on harping down the road of Malta being a sun and sea destination. Our major selling point is the diversity we have to offer and our rich, unique historical heritage. All other destinations have a multitude of history to offer. But our advantage is that within a relatively short reach, you can mix culture, history and relaxation. If you are in Rome and visiting the historical sites there, it will take you a couple of hours to get to a beach. In Malta, you can admire a world heritage site in the morning, go swim in the afternoon, and enjoying a good meal in a nightspot in the evening.”
Unless Valletta loses its World Heritage Status, after UNESCO expressed concerns about the changing skyline of the Tigné peninsula and how it could affect the status of Malta’s capital city.
“Which hopefully we should not,” Demarco is quick to point out.
But what is he doing about such a threat, which to make matters worse, appears to have been already apparent to the Maltese government, according to statements by the International Council of Monuments and Sites of previous warnings.
“It’s obviously of great concern to me. I’ve been in discussion with (culture minister) Dolores Cristina. We believe there isn’t reason enough for us to lose the status. I know that she is monitoring the situation to make sure that it doesn’t get affected.”
To be sure, having been handed the responsibility to guide the Malta Environment and Planning Authority through its institutional reform, Demarco may well find himself on both sides of the fence. On one hand, he faces pressure from developers who want to see a more lenient MEPA policy when it comes to particular developments. The Tigné developments alone were subject to numerous changes in original development briefs to allow for greater heights and wider sprawl. On the other hand, the threat to Valletta’s world heritage status is a reminder of the need for him to be mindful of the effects of development on the Maltese tourism product.
“It could be on the same side. As tourism secretary I have an interest in having the best product available, which is attractive enough for people to come over. The last thing I want is a ruined urban and outside zone,” Demarco says.
“I think this was one of the reasons why the Prime Minister put me in charge of MEPA reform. I’d like to clarify that I am not responsible for MEPA but for implementing the reform itself. As a parliamentary secretary for tourism, I am aware that if we don’t get the right product, and that includes the urban environment, we risk killing the goose that is laying the golden egg. So my interest in getting this right is even stronger. For tourism to be successful, the word ‘sustainable development’ is not a cliché. A tourist that sees a disjointed skyline, a historical urban area jarred by new buildings, is not going to be very impressed.”
That will be a challenge for him when he gets to implement Lawrence Gonzi’s declared zero-tolerance on ODZ applications.
“One of the Prime Minister’s main points in this reform was an overhaul of Outside Development Zone (ODZ) policy. We’ll see what permits have been issued and the current applications, and what is being applied for in an ODZ which is more compatible with an urban area and which are not compatible with an outside zone.”
Demarco says this will be done through a strategic team, or advisors, within the Office of the Prime Minister with MEPA – a slight amendment on Gonzi’s original plan to put policy totally in the hands of his office. “It won’t formulate the nitty-gritty of policies, because MEPA will keep developing or implementing policies. But government has the responsibility to give a strategic sense of direction to the regulator, especially by not tolerating urban structures in ODZ which can be conveniently built in urban zones,” he says.
In itself, isn’t that yet another confirmation that planning policies or local plans – whether devised by MEPA, or guided by the strategic hands of the Prime Minister’s people – are drawn up with prospective private developments and corporate interests in mind? As an example I mention the Gozo and Comino Local Plan, which would favourably consider the development of a ‘destination port’ – read yacht marina – for Comino, a Natura 2000 site. What does he say about the entire planning process: isn’t it compromised by these private interests from the very start?
“It may also be the reason why government has to give strategic direction to these plans. I haven’t entered into the details of the Gozo and Comino Local Plan. I think it’s a whole learning curve – as a people we’ve gone through a whole culture change when it comes to environmental consciousness.”
Demarco then says that this environmental concern will be much more reflected in the planning policies, referring to the “lop-sidedness” between the planning and environment protection unit. This will be addressed by beefing up resources in the latter unit.
But will MEPA reform tackle the suspicion that these local plans are devised with these major projects in mind?
“I think that local plans need to be revised. They’re not cast in stone and they have to reflect the consciousness of today.”
That might still represent a challenge for the government of today when it comes to ODZ planning applications. Demarco will still face the prospect of seeing what direction the reform will take over planning applications for major ODZ developments. Will government’s “zero-tolerance” on ODZ applications also hold true for the massive tourist development applications at Hondoq ir-Rummien, the Mellieha Hotel bungalows, or Ta’ Cenc?
“I don’t think it would be fair for me to give my opinion on individual applications. I’m a firm believer in sustainable tourism. I don’t believe that a hotel should have carte blanche to be developed wherever, at the cost of the environment. Finding the right balance won’t be easy, but we need to find a new awareness towards the environment and tourism.”
But isn’t this already too much for Demarco to handle? First an army of last-minute travellers sending shivers down hoteliers’ backs; now a whole cohort of cement-hungry developers and environmentalists waiting for his implementation of MEPA reform? How can he handle this new job at a time when tourism is weathering a crisis?
“Put it this way. It isn’t a matter of being too much, but of finding the right amount of time and the right type of people to support you. I’m lucky enough to have the right type of people at MTA and at MEPA, so both tasks can be done. Usually women accuse men of being unable to do more than one task at the time. I hope we can do so.”
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