Airbnb island

The prevalence of this type of holiday increases the urgency of regulation and the establishment and maintenance of standards in such a delicate sector as tourism

Every month we hear that a new record has been reached of people coming to Malta. It seems amazing how month after month we get more people in and yet we don’t get people sleeping on the streets or turned away.

Now the truth is out: most of these increases in tourist numbers are not going to hotels at all, most stay at private residences especially in Airbnb accommodation.

In fact, as Nationalist MP and deputy party leader Robert Arrigo said in Parliament a few days ago, hotels still have vacancies. He should know, as he has a flourishing tourist enterprise apart from his MP job.

When one considers the huge increase in tourist arrivals these past years, one can also see the huge increase in official or unofficial Airbnb accommodation.

Or, to see it from a different perspective, consider the case of Gozo where Airbnb existed even before it was born. The farmhouses with pools are usually booked solid at any time from April to November and maybe even more.

The rub is that most times the Airbnb accommodation and the unofficial ones too are completely unregulated. Regulation does not necessarily mean taxes and a lot of bureaucracy: it gives a certain security especially when, as things tend to happen, something goes wrong.

If Malta has become an

Airbnb island, this is very much in line with what is happening elsewhere. Like what happens with low cost airlines, the cheap price involved increases tourist figures exponentially and this newer way of travelling and taking holidays has proven to be very popular.

The prevalence of this type of holiday increases the urgency of regulation and the establishment and maintenance of standards in such a delicate sector as tourism. Even today in Gozo one can meet accommodation which is definitely sub-standard not to say offensive to taste. Such examples must be weeded out by the MTA enforcement and tourist complaints must be handled with efficiency and thoroughly.

Hotels, as Mr Arrigo hinted, come out rather badly in all this as they lose out to such cheap alternatives. But it is hotels, rather than Airbnb accommodation units, that form the backbone of our tourist industry and they must be helped to offer sterling service.

There are also issues of people being packed in units that are too small for them, when such massing would not be allowed in hotels. Again, this could give Malta a tatty image, just as happened with other mass tourism venues who have lived to rue the day.

And speaking of tourist attractions, may we be permitted to ask who was the bright spark at MTA who came up with the concept of Summer Daze, which, as we announced last week, will be held at Ta’ Qali and Café del Mar on the 14th and 15th of August with the participation of stars such as Rita Ora and the like?

Did no one raise the point that on those two days, especially the 14th, nearby Mosta has its annual festa and, unless the festival begins really late, Ms Ora would have to compete with the powerful, noisy and brilliant fireworks let off from the periphery of the Ta’ Qali park?