If Malta wants to get serious about offering tourists a higher value proposition, it must begin by investing in the systems its residents live with every day, according to tourism operator Alan Arrigo.

“There is no separate tourism product that can be built on top of a place that does not work for the people who live in it. That IS the tourism product.”

WhosWho.mt reached out to the Robert Arrigo & Sons Director and Council Member of The Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry, for his thoughts about the decline in the water quality of Maltese beaches.

Earlier this month, BusinessNow.mt reported that Malta’s bathing water quality has declined from best in the EU back in 2016 to bang average in 2025, with the current summer season seeing a number of short-term closures largely due to sewage overflows.

Asked whether this could pose a threat to Malta’s sun-and-sand proposition, Mr Arrigo says it already carries a cost.

“High-value visitors do not book on price,” he says. “They book on confidence, and confidence depends on the promise made before arrival matching the reality on the ground. A beach closure is visible in real time. It’s a guest standing on a beach in front of a sign. That is remembered far longer than any campaign.”

Mr Arrigo notes out that Malta's real spend per tourist has been falling in inflation-adjusted terms for a decade, as set out in The Malta Chamber's Rediscover to Align tourism strategy document.

“Product quality erosion of this kind is one of the reasons why.”

He adds that although the results appear in summer because that is when people swim, they are caused by systemic issues arising from underinvestment and poor planning.

“Water quality in July reflects what was maintained, repaired and invested in during the months before it. Malta has comparatively low seasonality, which means the infrastructure carries load all year round. That means maintenance, cleanliness and network upgrades have to be continuous rather than seasonal.”

Although he says that tourism operators are indeed concerned about the decline in water quality, Mr Arrigo adds that the situation is not one of panic, but rather a signal that shows where Malta can make real improvements.

“Malta still has no site below the legal minimum,” he says. “That should be acknowledged.”

The answer, he says, has to start with the product itself rather than with tourism.

“ If Malta is serious about moving to a higher value proposition, the first investment has to go into the things residents live with every day: water and sewerage networks, waste collection, cleanliness, mobility, energy, open spaces and the coast.

“Not because tourists demand them, but because residents deserve them.”

Mr Arrigo stresses that what the quality visitor Malta aspires to welcome is looking for are the same things Malta’s residents want to see.

“Until that investment is made, the promise Malta sells in the market and the reality a visitor meets on arrival will keep drifting apart. Spend per tourist follows this gap.”