Sustainable Tourism Law

254 SUSTAINABLE TOURISM LAW The contribution is payable by all tourists who are 18 years or older on the day of arrival to Malta. It amounts to € 0.50c per person for each night spent on the Maltese Islands at any type of accommodation, including hotels, guesthouses, hostels, resorts, apartments, farmhouses, timeshare and host families amongst others. The contribution is capped at a maximum of € 5.00 for each continuous stay. All monies collected are forwarded to the Commissioner of Value Added Tax 46 . The total revenue for 2016 from the Environmental Contribution in relation to the Accommodation Sector was €248.224; whereas the provisional figure for 2017 is €3.395.097 47 . It is the author’s opinion that this eco-contribution enforcement seems to compensate for those hotels and elements on the tourist accommodation sector that failed to participate in the Eco-Certification scheme, and did not supply the government with an additional income to guarantee sustainability 48 . However, albeit this scheme has yielded extra income for the local government for a laudable objective, the actual stakeholder is not directly participating nor being empowered to improve on sustainability as much as the actual Eco Certification issued by the Malta Tourism Authority. XXIII. RECOMMENDATIONS AS LEGAL PROVISIONS TO THE MALTA TRAVEL AND TOURISM SERVICES ACT Albeit the above has covered a number of laws, the Malta Travel and Tourism Services Act and its Subsidiary Legislation on Accommodation 49 does not delve directly into the concept of sustainability. However, the “mission” of the Malta Tourism Authority is: 46 The National Statistics Office has calculated that a total of inbound tourists for 2016 was 1.917.950 amounting to 15 million nights, and the average stay was 7.6 nights for each tourist, 15 % of which stayed in non-rented accommodation, meaning that they either stayed in their own private residence, or with family or friends. The presentation also indicates that 19 % were from 0 – 24 years (Eco contribution is paid from 18 years upwards). Domestic Tourism (between Malta and Gozo) for 2016 totalled to 39.000, with an average stay of 2.3 nights, 44 % represented non-rented accommodation. Presentation entitled “Destination Malta, who is visiting?” By Matthew Zerafa, National Statistics Office, Head of Unit, Tourism, Education and Information Society Statistics Unit, dated 12 September 2017. 47 These figures are from the Finance Department, National Statistics Office (Malta). 48 In Lisbon, Portugal, € 1.00 per night is also collected by the Hotels and it is capped at € 7 for each person over 18 years of age. 49 Chapter 409 of the Laws of Malta.