Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 17.1.
Malta: growth in visitor numbers,
arrivals declined by 40% between 1981 and
1984 (MTA, 2000a).
1959-2005.
Total number of visitors
(including excursionists) (000s)
Year
Remedial action and counter-reactions
1959
12.6
These fluctuations in visitor numbers and their
impact on the Maltese economy encouraged the
Maltese tourism authorities to take action. Ini-
tially, rather than pursuing market diversification,
Maltese authorities introduced a preferential cur-
rency exchange value (a forward buying rate)
for UK-based tour operators. This led to an
increase in visitor numbers, but it also conti-
nued to create over-dependence on the British
market. A more strategic approach was adopted
in the late 1980s, when the Maltese government
commissioned a Malta tourism development
plan, referred to as the
Tourism Master Plan
(Horwath and Horwath, 1989). This outlined
seven marketing actions, including market diver-
sification,
1965
47.8
1970
170.9
1975
334.5
1980
728.7
1985
517.9
1990
871.8
1995
1116.0
2000
1215.7
2001
1180.1
2002
1133.8
2003
1126.6
2004
1157.7
2005 (Jan-Sept)
931.9
Sources:
Theuma, 2004; MTA, 2005.
an
upgrading
of
products,
tourist
segmentation and season extension.
In the early 1990s the National Tourism
Organization of Malta (NTOM), the body respon-
sible for the marketing of the Maltese islands,
embarked on a series of initiatives to implement
the objectives of the Master Plan. New markets
within continental Europe and beyond were tar-
geted. The authorities also tried to improve visi-
tor quality by diversifying away from the '3Ss'
product and by improving the quality of accom-
modation available. Following this strategy,
numbers of tourists started to grow incrementally
until 1994, when a record of 1.2m visited the
islands. This success, however, was short-lived
as numbers started to decrease leading to debates
as to whether the action taken was indeed justi-
fied. Newspaper correspondents argued that
poor infrastructure, low service quality and lack
of emphasis on heritage were to blame for the
decline (Borg, 1996; Grech, 1995;
Times of
Malta
, 1996). They also advised that Malta should
seek an alternative type of tourism such as cul-
ture and heritage (Cacciottolo, 1996). However,
the notion of shifting the focus from a '3Ss' des-
tination to a greater cultural orientation was
questioned by others. Amid this debate, more
hotels were built, further compounding the issue
since the supply of bed stock exceeded demand,
stimulating the bigger hotels to intensify a price
waronsmallerones.
Mass tourism (1970s-1989)
During the 1970s high numbers of tourists
were sought (Lockhart, 1997; Pollacco, 2003),
with the numbers of visitors often far exceeding
the targets outlined in government develop-
ment plans. The type of tourism sought was
mainly mass summer tourism. The Maltese
government gave incentives for the building of
a new tourism infrastructure (Commonwealth
Secretariat, 1972), which transformed tourism
activity and stimulated the development of sum-
mer resorts in the coastal areas of St Paul's Bay,
Mellieha and Bugibba. Unfortunately, very little
planning was carried out; tourism grew unbri-
dled, fuelled by speculation and with the sup-
ply of accommodation being demand-led. The
growth of tourist numbers and increase in tour-
ist accommodation placed enormous pressures
on local infrastructure, leading to water and
electricity shortages and sewage overflow pro-
blems. This, in turn, exerted a negative impact
on the islands' tourist image. Further, Malta
was highly dependent on the British market,
which in 1980 contributed 77% of the total
number of visitors (Lockhart, 1997). Malta felt
the adverse impacts of over-reliance on this
single market when, as a result of the European
economic recession of the early 1980s, tourist
