A Triple Bottom Line Analysis of Malta
1. Introduction
The Republic of Malta is located in the Mediterranean Sea. It is an independent country, which includes the islands of Malta, Gozo and Comino, covering an area of 316 square kilometres. The Republic of Malta has a population of 417,617 (National Statistics, Demographic Review 2010) most of who live on the island of Malta. Appendix 1 shows that tourism in Malta started to grow in the late 1960’s with visitor numbers increasing from 47,804 in 1965 to 334,519 by 1975. By 1980 visitors numbers were up to 728,732, with the tourism industry aimed at attracting the mass market. (Lockhart, 1997) The latest tourist numbers stand at 1.3 million. (National Statistics, Tourist Departures, 2010) As with many Mediterranean islands Malta’s tourism has been historically focused on mass tourism, sun, sea and sand package holidays resulting in the neglect of historical cultural and environmental impacts. (Dodds, 2007) The rapid development of tourism in Malta combined with the high number of seasonal visitors has lead to number of impacts. These impacts can be accessed using the triple bottom line approach developed by John Elkington in reference to the economic, social and environmental impacts. (Elkington, 1997)
2. Issues
When identifying the issues that Malta is facing, the principles of the Cape Town Declaration, Agenda 21 and the context of Responsible Tourism have been used as point of reference as well as a number of official reports, including the State of the Environment Reports (2002, 1998 and 2005 and Malta’s National Report to the World Summit on Sustainable Development (2002). On the basis of this research the following issues have been identified.
2.1 Economic Issues
2.1.1 Pressure on the island infrastructure
The rapid development of the tourism industry in Malta has resulted in insufficient consideration and planning being given to the country’s infrastructure. Malta is a small island, yet its infrastructure, as previously mentioned
The Republic of Malta is located in the Mediterranean Sea. It is an independent country, which includes the islands of Malta, Gozo and Comino, covering an area of 316 square kilometres. The Republic of Malta has a population of 417,617 (National Statistics, Demographic Review 2010) most of who live on the island of Malta. Appendix 1 shows that tourism in Malta started to grow in the late 1960’s with visitor numbers increasing from 47,804 in 1965 to 334,519 by 1975. By 1980 visitors numbers were up to 728,732, with the tourism industry aimed at attracting the mass market. (Lockhart, 1997) The latest tourist numbers stand at 1.3 million. (National Statistics, Tourist Departures, 2010) As with many Mediterranean islands Malta’s tourism has been historically focused on mass tourism, sun, sea and sand package holidays resulting in the neglect of historical cultural and environmental impacts. (Dodds, 2007) The rapid development of tourism in Malta combined with the high number of seasonal visitors has lead to number of impacts. These impacts can be accessed using the triple bottom line approach developed by John Elkington in reference to the economic, social and environmental impacts. (Elkington, 1997)
2. Issues
When identifying the issues that Malta is facing, the principles of the Cape Town Declaration, Agenda 21 and the context of Responsible Tourism have been used as point of reference as well as a number of official reports, including the State of the Environment Reports (2002, 1998 and 2005 and Malta’s National Report to the World Summit on Sustainable Development (2002). On the basis of this research the following issues have been identified.
2.1 Economic Issues
2.1.1 Pressure on the island infrastructure
The rapid development of the tourism industry in Malta has resulted in insufficient consideration and planning being given to the country’s infrastructure. Malta is a small island, yet its infrastructure, as previously mentioned