Malta Uses the Excuse of Morality to Go Upmarket in Tourism Game

It is that time again in Malta. As the weather gets warmer, the swimsuited youngsters (and middle-aged folks) return to the seaside in droves, tanning on the rocks and beaches in the skimpiest of bikinis and thongs. Many of them, too sweaty and wet to put on their clothing on the way back home, simply walk the residential streets with barely any clothing on, titillating onlookers as their colorful fabrics are accentuated by the beige of the island's many traditional stone buildings. For many tourists seeking sun and tan in this little piece of Mediterranean paradise, it is a sight that they look forward to.

But this year, it seems like people need to be a bit more careful. Recent news that the Maltese police fined 29 people for indecent exposure on those very same residential streets called for some soul-searching amidst a minor controversy. There is no doubt that some swimwear minimizes coverage to maximize tanned surface. But until now, the country's laws have largely turned a blind eye to such attire, preferring that the country's liberal values continue to draw big spenders. After all, as some commented, if Malta has morality police on the streets, what distinguishes it from conversation Muslim countries?

Still, the fact that the local police officers are willing to issue a legal warning through their actions forces both locals dependent on tourists and the tourists seeking a sunny place to strip off to rethink just how far they can push the limits of the Maltese definition of "liberal." As a traditionally conservative, Catholic, family-oriented place, Malta is not particularly known as a place for skimpy dress. Unlike Germany, France, and the Nordics, there is no culture of nudism, and with many youngsters living at home until well after their adolescence, there is little reason to show off skin to complete strangers in any circumstance.

As the rich northern Europeans came with their money, the locals were perhaps forced to accept what used to be foreign cultural mores in exchange for their money. The German and British love for going out and sun have turned Malta into a budding clubbing destination that strives to rival Ibiza. Locals enamored with the freewheeling lifestyle, so glamorously portrayed on TV shows and music videos, took off their clothes for the clubs. Once skimpy dresses became the norm in crowded nightlife destinations, the social inhibition to show off skin on the beaches naturally decreased.

Young partiers with little clothes on, however, are not big spenders. Luxury travelers, in contrast, are turned off by a perceived lack of refinement. As Malta becomes more and more crowded with tourists every summer, it makes more sense to be selective, targeting not the number of arrivals but how much people are willing to spend once they arrive. Pushing back against the shoestring youngsters to get more big spenders to show up makes financial sense in the context of sustainable tourism. Getting people to cover up on the streets could be a first step in that direction.

It remains to be seen whether being a little more conservative is really the right strategy to get big spenders in the door. But one thing is certain. Malta is becoming more well-known among non-Europeans visiting the continent, and the average non-European is much less likely to see bikinis on the streets in a positive light. The wealthiest Middle Eastern families and Asian couples that represent Malta's greatest untapped inbound potential do not come to the island to ogle at fine women and dance the night away at 2am. New ways to entertain and behave are sorely needed.

Sure, Malta's summertime electronic music will not be silenced, and the country's many watering holes will not stop serving alcohol, but as the country's tourist scene caters to more people with varied backgrounds yet united in their spending power, those behaviors that some see as immoral will need to be more tacked away, only made visible to those who are interested in seeing them and not everywhere for everyone to see, even if they are not interested in seeing them. Beaches full of bikinis can be avoided, as is the case with loud nightclubs. But residential streets are public property that everyone must use. 

The police will play a more active role in maintaining this segmentation, using the power of law to keep every culture happy in their own physical spheres. Some of the older folks on the island will be happy to find their island return to an earlier era of visual decorum. The decorum, however, is not meant for them. Malta's next phase of development requires trade-offs, and the first to be sacrificed are the visibly upsetting but economically marginal. The swimsuited youngsters, for all the physical beauty they introduce, are on the chopping block.