Evarist Bartolo Warns Malta Risks Anti-Tourism Backlash If Concerns Ignored
Former Education and Foreign Affairs Minister Evarist Bartolo urged the authorities not to ignore public concerns of overtourism.
Bartolo published comments by residents of four popular global tourism destinations – Barcelona, Hawaii, Bali and Bled.
From public disorder to skyrocketing prices for locals, the complaints are similar to concerns that have often been raised in Malta.
“Countries have started taking action to strike a balance between the needs of locals and tourists, the country’s laws and traditions, the environment and heritage – to ensure a good experience for locals and tourists alike,” Bartolo said.
“The people at the bottom are the most impacted by overtourism. When the authorities don’t take action to strike a balance, residents will eventually take the law into their own hands by organising anti-tourism protests because they feel that things have gone too far and the authorities aren’t listening to them.”
“In the first three months of this year, the number of global tourists reached a new record of 300 million.”
“Everything indicates that this number will continue increasing in the months and years ahead, and the worst impacted are small countries like Malta.”
Should Malta take action to address concerns of overtourism?