A public policy analysis of Malta's responses to low cost airlines

Abstract

In 2006, the Maltese government undertook the controversial step of giving incentives to low cost airlines (LCA) to increase their activity to and from the island. The over arching objective of this study is to conduct a public policy analysis of Malta's responses to LCA. The policy-making process is analysed by using the five step 'stagist' model. The study sheds light on the power struggles present amongst stakeholders, the influence they had on setting the agenda and policy direction, government's strategy to manage conflict and the decision making tools used by government to make the best choice amongst alternatives. The study is aimed at making tentative conclusions on which theory of political behavior is mostly reflected by this policy. The policy analysis is undertaken by: collecting secondary data namely through content analysis of policy documents, newspaper articles and legal notices; and a primary study based on conducting semi structured interviews with key stakeholders. The key findings of this policy show that: the Malta Tourism Authority undertook a rationalistic approach in analyzing the alternatives during the policy formulation stage; however one cannot say that the process followed a rational top down approach to policymaking as powerful stakeholders played a key role in influencing agenda setting and the policy direction; The Malta Hotels and Restaurant Association (MHRA) had the power to initiate the process by placing the issue on public agenda; through pressure from Air Malta and a particular Minister the policy decision was one of no action for around two years; stakeholders agree that one of the reasons, the policy in favour of giving incentives to LCA was adopted, was through increased pressure from MHRA; Air Malta believes that after the policy was implemented, the airline was weakened so much that it no longer occupies a key role in tourism development in Malta. Findings also show that stakeholders were not operating on the same level playing field in policy-making; the Gozo Tourism Association (GTA) did not have the financial resources to conduct a study to prove its argument against LCA due to its impact on domestic travel and to this day feels that its voice has not been heard. Through the findings one can conclude that the policy process reflects the game theory of policy-making. I believe that this will not generate effective policies and hence more importance can be given to collaborative planning, where stakeholders build a rapport based on trust and sharing of resources to ultimately reach a common goal and collectively reap the benefits.