Tourism – Gozo’s endemic resilience

“The world of the tourist – and the world of everyone else – are often sideby-side. Visitors feel at home when they can actually live among the people they visit.” This is a quotation from the World Tourism Organisation and last week I had the pleasure of

We discussed – and shared – experiences in the tourist industry and I spoke with pride about our prolific experience in the sector that is considered to be one of the main drivers of economic activity in Malta and Gozo.

It gives me pride at such international events to be part of a government which, over a span of six years, has succeeded in pushing our islands further up on the international platform and has been one of the best performing economies in the Eurozone in terms of economic growth, job creation and fiscal management. There is no doubt tourism has played a very important role in this economic boom, with the number of jobs created directly or indirectly in this industry having reached an all-time high.

It is estimated that one in every seven jobs in Malta is linked to tourism expenditure.

Crucial role

From day one, the Labour Government has been well-aware that tourism plays a crucial role in our economic and social development. It is also aware of how fickle, competitive and sensitive it can be in a world where a traveller’s loyalties switch from one destination to another at the bat of an eyelid. The government is therefore constantly on the look-out, adopting active and innovative policies to promote Success, however, brings its own challenges. We are fully aware that the steady increase in Gozo’s tourism figures calls for further infrastructural and services upgrades. We have taken up the challenge and, despite all the inevitable setbacks, we have moved on with a long-term plan without limiting our projects to popular areas.

Gozitans have long been pleading for action regarding their own immediate needs and had not been heeded by previous administrations. The backlog that had accumulated for decades had to be tackled through the better and additional deployment of resources – human, financial and logistic. Unfortunately, this was not as logical as merely building on any work already done, but necessitated the bold decision to start from scratch. It is no surprise that criticism has come from those same sources that had lived in a long inertia and all they are capable of doing now is orchestrating negative campaigns.

The Gozo Ministry takes all this in its stride and is likewise fully committed to taking up the additional challenge of our own making: the steady increase in tourist numbers. Indeed, success creates the need to work harder and, despite all the setbacks, this is precisely what we are doing.

The future of Gozo is to be one where our beloved island will serve as a showcase for small island development, providing the right blend of synergetic interaction between traditional and new economic activities. We have moved away from the traditional lethargy and inertia or – at best – cosmetic solutions. Our aim is quality over quantity and, most of all, we intend to expose even better the characteristic re