A study of tourism exchanges between Malta and Sicily in the context of commercial exchanges in the Mediterranean

Abstract

In November 1995, the 'lntergruppo Federalista per l'Unione Europea' of the Sicilian Regional Assembly together with the Foundation for International Studies at the University of Malta decided to offer two bursaries to recent graduates of the University of Malta. Both studies were set to feature the inter-relationships that exist between the two neighbour Mediterranean islands, namely Malta and Sicily. The objective of the two studies was to carry out research on the following sub jects: • a study of trade/tourism exchanges between Malta and Sicily in the context of commercial exchanges in the Mediterranean. • a comparative study on aspects of the legal or political systems in Malta and Sicily, and on possible institutional co-operation in the context of the Euro Mediterranean role of the two islands. Since tourism is one of my main interests, and since I had already achieved some experience in writing my dissertation which was tourism oriented, I decided to apply and was awarded the respective bursary. The bursary was presented in January 1996 by the Hon. Mario Mazzaglia, Vice-President of the Sicilian Regional Assembly and Mr. Leslie Agius, Chief Executive of the Foundation of International Studies at the Rector's Office. Eventually, in conducting this report, I attempted to carry out the research with the help of various contacts in both the Maltese and the Sicilian travel trade to establish more detailed profiles of the inter-island traffic. Unfortunately, there seems to be a similarity in the culture of the two islands towards a tendency of ignoring such attempts. This behaviour was encountered mainly in the distribution of questionnaires to Maltese and Sicilian tour operators and travel agencies. These questionnaires were sent by post and the response turned out to be very poor. Seeing this, reminder faxes were sent with the same fruitless outcome. On the other hand, positive results were obtained in dealing with the National Tourism Organisation - Malta, the Sicilian Regional Tourist Organisation, the Province Tourist Promotion Offices and the Tourist Information Offices. Contacts with such entities proved to be successful and a lot of useful information was gathered although there exist a serious lack of raw data with respect to passenger movements between the islands. This made the study carried out somewhat restricted. Eventually, published statistics on traffic movement at both airport and seaport and data on tourist flows were utilised in the best possible way. This report begins by giving a short account of general tourism issues. It then proceeds by dealing with three important factors which determine tourism to a destination. These are the attractions offered, the links that exist between the such destinations and the accommodation sector. In so doing, the type of marketing adopted and the policies followed are examined. In concluding, various aspects of the Sicilian and Maltese offer, such as current trends and existing problems are reviewed, while practical solutions are considered.