Malta : conservation of sites and monuments in the development of tourism

Abstract

The term or reference of the mission, which lasted from' 15 to 23 December 1966, were to examine the principal pre-historical and historical monuments, to establish as far as possible the degrees of priority and modes of financing the operations to be undertaken, and finally to project the main lines of a programme for the conservation of the monuments related to the development of tourism in Malta. In practice, the way the problems were approached as follows: (1) Ascertainment of the terms and objectives of the general tourist development policy pursued by the Government of Malta; (2) Analysis of the resources engaged, of the operations completed or proceeding at the date of the mission, and of the projects for the coming years; (3) study of the contribution to the promotion of tourism which could be made by developing the possibilities of the artistic and cultural heritage. The plan of the present report was determined by the above considerations. A point was made of seeking the suggestions and getting the opinions of the maximum possible number of representatives of the various sectors of activity with an interest in the development of tourism. This inquiry was made it possible to disclose the principles on which the promotion of tourism is conducted in Malta, and to draw the inferences from them for the specific domain assigned to this first mission. However, it very soon became evident that while the terms of the problem of maximizing the island's artistic wealth in relation to tourist development were relatively easy to discover, a much more thorough survey than any that could be carried out in the time allocated for the mission would be required before a sufficiently detailed plan could be prepared to be of use to the authorities concerned. The Consultant has therefore confined himself to the most important points which could be the subjects of subsequent UNESCO missions.