Carmel Cacopardo

It seems that the government has probably realised that tourism in Malta is at a saturation point. After expressing himself against the capital-intensive metro the Minister of Finance has also spoken on tourism having reached its saturation point.

The negative impacts of tourism on our society are substantial: they have accumulated over time. These impacts have not been contained but they have spread to residential areas in such a manner as to be of concern to the quality of life of our residential communities. This is not just a local phenomenon. It is also encountered in various European tourist destinations such as Barcelona.

The matter has been examined and analysed by many. Catalan social anthropologist Manoel Delgado has coined the term turismophobia as a mixture of repudiation, mistrust and concern for tourists and tourism. This is the result of over-tourism spilling over into our lives in such a manner as to have a substantial impact thereon.

Almost three years ago the tourism industry itself reacted to the writing on the wall by commissioning a study on the future of the industry. The study, entitled Carrying Capacity Study for Tourism in the Maltese Islands pointed out to an excess capacity of tourist beds which would require an ever-increasing flow of tourists. The 5-million tourist mark is one of the points which clearly results from this study. This number is quite substantial. It takes into consideration the tourist projects then still in the pipeline but which had received regulatory approval. Three years down the line, the situation is most probably even worse.

It is however doubtful as to the extent to which the MHRA commissioned study took into consideration the fast developing short-let industry, as a result of which, tourism is now practically out of regulatory control. This aspect is not easily quantifiable but its impacts are clearly visible in our residential communities. It is a phenomenon which is spread all over the islands but is concentrated in the areas close to the established tourist localities. Slowly it is radiating out of the tourist localities.

The localities of Swieqi and St Paul’s Bay are two of the localities which are heavily impacted. This is indicative of an industry which does not care about anything except the size of its bank account.

These are some of the reasons which have motivated the Minister for Tourism to launch, earlier this week, a public consultation aimed at addressing some of these impacts in the foreseeable future. Speaking in Parliament, Ian Borg, Minister for Tourism spoke on the removal of the favourable treatment of the tourism industry through a relaxed height relaxation policy which has permitted the development of tourist facilities more intensively than its surroundings. This is a policy which has been in place for more than fifty years, that is, when less than 300,000 tourists visited these islands every year. This is obviously a long-term measure whose impact will be insignificant in the next five years and thus will be mostly irrelevant in addressing the current mess.

The crux of the regulatory reforms would be the manner in which they impact the operation of short-lets which are mushrooming at a very fast pace. I have repeatedly spoken in favour of introducing a regulatory role and responsibility on local councils as the only way to effectively regulate this phenomenon. Four months ago, in these columns, I had stated that “properties licensed for short-lets should not only be assessed on the state of the properties themselves. The assessment should be extended to consider impacts on the residential areas in our local communities. The Local Councils should be taken on board in order to establish clear criteria to ensure that licensed short-let properties do not strain local services or disrupt unnecessarily our local communities.” (Their greed … our ruin: TMIS 13 July 2025)

Unfortunately, the proposed reform ignores the role of the local community in regulating the industry. Being the most impacted, the local community can be the most effective tool in the effort to bring the tourism in line with community expectations. It is the only practical way forward.

Carmel Cacopardo – Deputy Chairperson ADPD-The Green Party

First published in The Malta Independent on Sunday: 9 November 2025