To Identify itineraries and sites which are not conventionally considered as attractions and have not revealed their full touristic potential: this is the aim of the project “Discovering Malta and Gozo Through its People and Culture,” which is currently being implemented by the Tourism Directorate at the Ministry of Tourism in collaboration with a consistent number of Local Councils.

After the previous two seminars held in November 2012 and January 2013 to introduce the first ten itineraries, another meeting took place on the 27th June 2013 at the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage in Valletta: on this occasion a new set of itineraries, including Gharb in Gozo, Attard, Gudja, Zabbar and Naxxar, has been launched.

Members of several Local Councils and important tourism industry players took part to the event and expressed their point of view on the current situation of tourism in Malta. All the stakeholders agreed on one main issue: the touristic offer must be improved to guarantee an “authentic experience” to visitors and let them get a knowledge of the real Maltese lifestyle and culture. In fact, modern travelers are much after new forms of sustainable/relational tourism which are concerned on historic, natural and cultural aspects.

Therefore, it is important to promote the existing resources through a series of appropriate interventions such as greater investments in marketing strategies and the creation of new heritage trails with the participation of local inhabitants and different stakeholders from the public and the private sector.

The internet, new technologies and the media will also play a key role, being a powerful means to give visibility to events and inform travelers and locals about these kind of initiatives.

Photographs of Seher il-Punent 2013 in Gharb by Alain Salvary.

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