Sustainable Tourism Law

252 SUSTAINABLE TOURISM LAW enterprise cannot impede access by local residents to historical, archaeological, culturally and spiritually important sites and its property. These criteria are covered under the Cultural Heritage Act 42 . This serves as an example as to how these criteria are transposed into mandatory items, such as the one indicating that the hotel is required to take initiatives to protect and conserve historical or cultural sites. An example is that at Corinthia St. George’s Hotel, there is one of the thirteen (now eight) De Redin Towers 43 known as Torre San Guiliano, which were built by the Knights of St. John approximately in 1658. This was upgraded to serve as a coastal battery in 1715. Today, this tower is part of Maltese historical legacy and is accessible to the public despite serving as part of the hotel complex. Another criterion indicates that hotels offer the means to sell sustainable products from local small entrepreneurs based on the area’s nature, history and culture, and this may include food and beverages, crafts and performance arts. XX. COMMUNICATION WITH CUSTOMERS The hotel must be willing to communicate with the guests the sustainable initiatives being promoted by it and how the guests could also contribute towards such initiatives, including activities in which the guests could participate. In this respect, guests could also enjoy the local spectacles that councils may offer and which may be free, such as the local village feasts in honour of a particular saint, which are frequent in Malta, carnival parades, charity events, food feasts, such as strawberry or chocolate feasts held on an annual basis in villages, and other sponsored events, such as the annual Joseph Calleja Concert, better known as the “Maltese Tenor” and recognized internationally. XXI. ACHIEVING SUSTAINABILITY IN THE HOTEL INDUSTRY As indicated above, certain sustainable criteria should be adhered to due to legal provisions; however, others could be upheld even if a hotel does not directly apply for “Eco Certification” since they may be profitable for the hotel, and/or 42 Chapter 445 of the Laws of Malta. 43 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Julian%27s_Tower – accessed on 22 February 2018.