v

JOURNAL OF THE INSTITUTE OF TOURISM STUDIES JOURNAL OF THE INSTITUTE OF TOURISM STUDIES ISSUE 4 decISSUEember 42009 |DECEMBER 1 2009

IDEAS tourism culture heritage

Dynamics of the Apocalypse Studying The Necromancer the Future of Malta 2 welcome IDEAS tourism culture heritage

Join BOV Club and benefit from: • Unsecured Student Loan at reduced rates • High Interest Rate on BOV Student eAccount • Free BOV Club Cashlink Card and Credit Cards • Travel Incentives… and much more!!

Loans and Credit Card facilities are subject to normal bank lending criteria and final approval from your BOV branch. Terms and conditions apply.

BOV 24813 Issued by Bank of Valletta p.l.c., 58, Zachary Street, Valletta VLT 1130 - Malta

ITS MAGAZINE A4 339X240.indd 1 10/14/09 3:20:40 PM JOURNAL OF THE INSTITUTE OF TOURISM STUDIES ISSUE 4 december 2009 | 3 editorial This issue of Welcome deals with the Future. Speculations Why is humanity so obsessed with what may happen on Speculation tomorrow? Is this propensity hardwired into our nature? Even nowadays, it is unthinkable for most of us to drive down a road at a History shows that human hundred kilometres an hour without looking ahead. The human cultural spectrum is coloured with striations of endeavours, verging from the insane to the profound, beings are ab origine future- to foresee, or indeed predict, what is to come. The claim to man’s oldest profession directed animals. Ever since should be revisited and be attributed also to the teller of the future. Homo erectus began the long According to Greek mythology, the first oracle, the maker of forecasts, was the trek out of Africa and into earth goddess Gaia, at Delphi, from the Greek delphus, “womb”. Gaia’s prophecies were Eurasia, the horizon-watchers sung out by a mythical figure referred to as the Sybil, who inhaled trance-inducing vapours from a fissure in the mountain. The site was guarded by Gaia’s daughter, the knew that their survival fearsome serpent Python. Then came the god Apollo, whose first big achievement, depended on what they the one that put him on the map, was to slay the giant serpent Python. Since Python found over the hill in the no- was Gaia’s daughter, amends had to be made and Apollo had to work for eight years as man’s time of the day after. a cowherd to purify himself. But once that was done, he returned to Delphi and, in a hostile takeover, claimed the oracle from Gaia. From that moment on, he was known as Pythian Apollo, the god of prophecy, and Delphi was his main shrine. The result was the most successful prediction business in history. For almost a thousand years, the Delphic Oracle called the shots in business, politics, religion, and war. The oracle at Delphi eventually fell into decline with the rise of Christianity, around 300 A.D., but the orb was passed on to the hands of both orthodox, and unorthodox, forecasters of the future. In this issue of Welcome we attempt to take a quick look at mankind’s attempts to look into his objective and subjective futures. Rather than separating the historical, magical, supernatural efforts from the scientifically-inspired ones, we view both as a single manifestation of man attempting to transcend his confines. Professor Carmel Cassar ventures into the realms of the supernatural with Fra Vittorio Cassar’s attempts to foretell the future through necromancy and his eventual tribulations with the Holy Inquisition. Francesca Farrugia examines the realm of literature for imaginative forays into the future, some serious, some frivolous. Strangely enough the literature of proposals and projections about future things appear as a mere blip at the end of civilisation’s 10,000 year record. It is strange too, that utopias and dystopias, forecasts, projections and speculative literature are ray vassallo in origin, and still largely so, a Western intellectual activity. In his article, David EDITOR Pace deals with our endangered future as environmental catastrophe looms ahead promising an end to both the tourist industry...and eventually ourselves. Martin Debattista discusses how the rapid acceleration in scientific and technological development may drastically affect our future. Finally, we talk about the future of ITS as it passes through its twentieth year in its present incarnation and propose some pathways it may take in its foreseeable future. Join BOV Club and benefit from: Why tackle this particular subject? • Unsecured Student Loan at reduced rates This issue of Welcome is a special issue dedicated to the foundation of the ITS • High Interest Rate on BOV Student eAccount Centre for the Future, a think-tank dedicated to future studies, otherwise known • Free BOV Club Cashlink Card and Credit Cards as foresight studies. The Centre plans to organise its first international seminar in • Travel Incentives… and much more!! conjunction with the University of Manchester Business School at the ITS, between www.its.edu.mt Loans and Credit Card facilities are subject to normal bank lending criteria and final approval from your BOV branch. Terms and conditions apply.

BOV 24813 Issued by Bank of Valletta p.l.c., 58, Zachary Street, Valletta VLT 1130 - Malta ISSN 1998-9954

ITS MAGAZINE A4 339X240.indd 1 10/14/09 3:20:40 PM 4 welcome IDEAS tourism culture heritage

We cannot make the 1st – 5th May 2010, with the title “Competing with the Capitals of Art through wise choices if we innovative incoming tourism product development : Foresight”. The scientific study of future possibilities started late in the Second World do not understand War when strategists argued for a concerted effort by sociologists, historians, psychologists, economists and political scientists to examine social and current world technological trends as a means of learning the true shape of coming things. In the trends and their last few decades future studies has grown into a coherent body of techniques and knowledge, known also by such terms as futuring or futurism. Thanks to the work of likely consequences many creative pioneers, these techniques are now used systematically by companies, for ourselves government agencies, think-tanks, and professional futurists around the world to anticipate an endless variety of problems and opportunities. We too can learn these and the options skills and techniques and practice them systematically to improve our careers and we have for our lives. Having an understanding of the future does not mean, of course, that we will achieving our goals be able to predict it in detail. Our ability to forecast most future events is extremely limited. Yet what we can know is critical for our future success. We cannot make wise choices if we do not understand current world trends and their likely consequences for ourselves and the options we have for achieving our goals. As a final note, one should perhaps ponder the words of the legendary science fiction writer and inventor of the telecommunications satellite Sir Arthur C. Clarke, “If we have learned one thing from the history of invention and discovery, it is that, in the long run - and often in the short one- the most daring prophecies seem laughably conservative.” JOURNAL OF THE INSTITUTE OF TOURISM STUDIES ISSUE 4 december 2009 | 5

Editorial Team Editor: Raymond J Vassallo Deputy Editor: Martin Debattista welcome Deputy Editor (Culture & Heritage): Vincent Zammit Deputy Editor (Travel & Environment): David Pace Welcome is the official magazine of the Institute of Tourism Studies, Malta’s Deputy Editor (Arts): Francesca Farrugia only professional and higher education institution that meets the changing Sales and Marketing: Elaine Jones needs of the Tourism Industry in the Maltese Islands. The aims of Welcome Advertising Manager: Carmenrita Bugeja are to promote discussion, research and reflection in the field of tourism in respect of the ever-growing importance of innovation, culture, heritage and Contributors technology in its development and evolution. Prof Carmel Cassar Manuel Mangani The views expressed in Welcome do not reflect the views of the Board of Governors or of the Management of the Institute of Tourism Studies but Published by the only that of the individual authors. Institute of Tourism Studies St George’s Bay, St Julians PBK1553 - Malta Tel: +356 2379 3100, Fax: +356 2137 5472, © All rights reserved. Reproduction of this publication in any form without prior written permission is forbidden. The information contained herein has Email: [email protected] been obtained from sources believed to be reliable. The Institute of Tourism www.its.edu.mt Studies shall have no liability for errors, omission or inadequacies in the Advertising Office information contained herein or for interpretations thereof. Carmenrita Bugeja ISSN 1998-9954 Email: [email protected] Tel: +356 7900 9925, Fax: +356 2137 5472

Cover Image Welcome is distributed to all stakeholders in the Maltese tourism, An 18th century painting by Jean-Baptiste Le Prince: hospitality and higher educational sectors. To subscribe contact the belief that the hands are “mirrors of destiny”, Elaine Jones, Institute of Tourism Studies, St George’s Bay, St Julians, in which a person’s character and future are reflected, Tel: 2137 5472 or Email: [email protected] has flourished for centuries.

Paramount Garage

Paramount Garage 257, Constitution Street Mosta Tel: 2141 0220, 2141 1193, 2143 2001 | Mobile: 9949 2360 Fax: 2141 2187 | Email: [email protected] 6 welcome IDEAS tourism culture heritage

Inside Information

The Necromancer of Malta 05

Envisioning the Future: Far-sighted writers throughout the ages 18

ITS launches new Centre for Future Studies 32

Competing with the Capitals of Art 34

Dynamics of the Apocalypse 36

Right Technology, Wrong Prediction 48

“Champagne” 57

Serving alcohol, without doing any harm 60

How is ITS dealing with the future? 63 JOURNAL OF THE INSTITUTE OF TOURISM STUDIES ISSUE 4 december 2009 | 7

Carmel Cassar

Professor Carmel Cassar is a cultural historian who has published mainly on Maltese and Mediterranean Culture and History of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. At present Prof Cassar lectures in the Department of Tourism Studies at the University of Malta. His books include; Society, Culture and Identity in Early Modern Malta; A Concise History of Malta; Daughters of Eve: Women, Gender Roles, and the Impact of the Council of Trent in Catholic Malta; Witchcraft, Sorcery and the Inquisition; The Fenkata: An Emblem of Maltese Peasant Resistance. Necromancer of malta

Vittorio Cassar: “Ha Tanti Liberi e sa Quanto un Demonio” 8 welcome IDEAS tourism culture heritage

hile Maltese researchers have managed to throw involved in fortune telling. On both occasions…he was sought Wlight on the Maltese military engineer and architect after for his reputed powers of relieving people of their state of Gerolamo Cassar, we still have learnt very little about his elder anxiety, of reassuring them and of reading their future. son, Vittorio, mainly due to the relative rarity of surviving Further in-depth analyses of the Inquisition archives evidence. Of particular interest are a series of 29 documents has revealed more valuable information on Vittorio Cassar’s dating between 1586 and 1606, extracted from several qualities, not just as the principal architect and engineer living archives, where Vittorio Cassar is portrayed as a worthy son of in Malta after his father’s demise, but also as a necromancer, his gifted father. diviner, healer and exorcist. Of particular interest are a series of documents relating to the character of Vittorio Cassar, that appear to justify A Necromancer and a Man of Learning the opinion of E. Schermerhorn that ‘Fra Vittorio was of Fra Vittorio seems to have been influenced by Francesco a difficult temperament, ever to the alert of the affronts Giorgi’s work De Harmonia Mundi first published in 1525. and provocations’ that often led to the embittered quarrels Giorgi, as a Christian cabalist, believed that the Cabala could and criminal offences. We thus learn that the engineer prove the truth of Christianity. The connection would be was imprisoned twice by two months ad carcerem turris better understood if one keeps in mind the Neoplatonist for wounding his maternal uncle Brandano Cassia. On 5 theories of the time in which the Vitruvian architecture December 1594 he was again imprisoned for six months at figured prominently. For Giorgi it had a religious significance Fort St Angelo, ‘for having used stones to hammer upon the connected with the Temple of Solomon. bedroom windows of Fra Emmanuele de Carnero’s residence In 1601 Vittorio Cassar admitted to the Inquisition and beaten his domestic servant.’ that he kept and perused several prohibited books which The documents also reveal another interesting aspect of he said were received from a friend of his in Messina called Vittorio Cassar’s character: On at least two occasions, one in Mastro Gioanne Mancuso – a brass-worker. Three of the 1602, which refers back to the 1590s, the other in 1606, he books, namely, La Cavicola de Solomone, De Mansionibus was accused at the Court of the Inquisition of having been Lune by Pietro Baiolardi and another book by Pietro Debano (presumably D’Abano) were in manuscript form. According to Cassar, Mancuso was looking for someone who could make use of the experiments they contained. Vittorio said that, at the time, he had been sent to Gozo ‘per far fare la fortalezza’ and since Don Antonio Attardo would not absolve him during confession, he handed the books to the Inquisition for burning. In a spontaneous comparition before the Inquisition Tribunal on 5 June 1605, Fra Vittorio explained among other things that when his father, Gerolamo, was still alive, he had made use of a recipe found in one of his father’s books that could be applied on women in difficult labour. The remedy consisted in giving a crust of bread to the sick woman on which the words: + Jesus + Natus + were written accompanied by the recitation of three Ave Marias and three Pater Nosters. Fra Vittorio admitted to have adoperated the remedy twice. Once to the daughter of Fra Simon Provost, the Master of Mint, and on another occasion to one of his neighbours in Valletta. Apparently Cassar remained obsessed with books on necromancy and other related subjects till his death. On 24 April 1609, Pietro De Armenia of Valletta referred to a discussion he had had with a prostitute named Gioanna

A prophet was the human spokesman of a god and this special relationship to the divine led to the association of miracles and supernormal abilities with prophecy, including the ability to see into the future. This illustration from a 15th Century manuscript shows Elijah being miraculously fed by ravens JOURNAL OF THE INSTITUTE OF TOURISM STUDIES ISSUE 4 december 2009 | 9

La Siracusana, who claimed to be the carnal friend of Fra Vittorio Cassar. Gioanna declared that the year before, she had intentionally absented herself from Malta, out of fear of the Inquisition, since she learned that Fra Vittorio had a collection of writings and books on magic. But although she did declare that he kept such books and writings at home, she could not Fra Vittorio even keeps say what they contained. Evidently Cassar’s girlfriend was illiterate. a demon in a jug which As has already been stated, the possession of, and trade in such books were prohibited by the Church. Yet there seems to he has locked in his room have been a relatively substantial demand for occult titles. The popularity of La Clavicola di Solomone has already been pointed out. We also learn that Tiberio Camarda had at some point attempted to steal La Cavicola di Solomone from Cassar, ‘perche haverebba cavato gran frutto di quella.’ However, it is interesting to note that Cassar was aware of the work by the medieval magician Pietro d’Abano ‘whose operations were directed to the angels or spirits of planets, with the purpose of compelling them to do something extraordinary’. At the same time, Pietro Baiolardo was considered to be a magician of such great powers that in nineteenth-century Sicily, the eminent ethnographer G. Pitre’, could still recall the phrase: ‘cumannari li Diavuli comu Pietru Bailurdu’ (Commanding the Devils like Pietro Baiolardo). In other words, the three texts must have had a great impact on Cassar’s activities as a magician. No wonder Cassar was often accused of practising necromancy. There are indications that Vittorio Cassar was considered to be a gentleman of great learning. In January 1597 Vincentio Xerri recalled a discussion he had with Bernardo La Vechia and the deceased Augustino Cassar on board the Capitana galley while on anchorage in Messina. One of his mates declared ‘che fare Vittorio Cassar figlio del quondam Geronimo lo Ingegneri sapeva fare delle magarie.’ Augustino had asserted that on consulting Fr Vittorio for love magic, Fra Vittorio gave him a bone which he had to burn in front of his lady love. Augustino even stated that Fra Vittorio had a box which was full of ‘imbarazzi di magarie’ (things related to magic), adding that Fra Vittorio had the habit of cutting pieces of flesh from the corpses of those who had been hanged, drawn and quartered. The following year the Catalan knight Fra Bartolomeo Brul confirmed that Fra Vittorio had in time become a popular topic of gossip. In a conversation that Fra Brul had had with several Castilian knights, it was rumored that Fra Vittorio had attempted an experiment which would liberate him and the other inmates from imprisonment at St Elmo.

According to the famous story of Saul and the ‘witch’ of Endor, the king failed to obtain an omen of the future from God by dreams or by lots or by prophets, and consulted a medium who summoned up for him the shade of the prophet Samuel. The ghost appeared as an old man dressed in a robe, and foretold Saul’s imminent death and the defeat of Israel (1 Samuel, Chapter 28) 10 welcome IDEAS tourism culture heritage

Rumours about Fra Vittorio’s abilities spread far and wide European interest in Astrology is reflected in this 17th century French engraving in Malta. Salvo Camilleri recommended that Martina Burlò showing an allegorical figure, combining the signs of the zodiac with the works of such astronomers as Tycho Brahe and Copernicus of Vittoriosa resort to Fra Vittorio for love magic because ‘Fra Vittorio Cassar knows very well what remedies should be given to similar persons’. Besides ‘Fra Vittorio even keeps a demon in a case dated December 1604 when Cassar, accompanied by his a jug which he has locked in his room’. brother Fra Gabriele, was reported to have visited the Orders’ His repute as necromancer was so great, that once a ovens in Valletta with the intentions of examining the newly school-boy found it convenient to attribute an experiment installed mill. At the oven, the two Cassar brothers seem to he had invented to Fra Vittorio. In July 1606, Francesco de have had a stimulating discussion with Cosimo Lo Furno, the Gaeta – a sixteen year old boy who was then attending the Sicilian gentleman, inventor of the new machine. Cosimo told school of Giacomo Xerri in the vicinity of the Jesuit Church Fra Vittorio that he knew a lot of secrets and prided himself on in Valletta – declared that one of his school mates, Gio. Luigi being well-informed about what was going on in Rome, adding Metaxi, had practiced divination by designing the shape of the that he even knew a secret about how to repel an invasion. earth. Metaxi drew several geometrical lines writing down the When called upon to give witness before the Holy Office, Fra names of several planets to figure out when de Gaeta would Vittorio admitted that Cosimo and himself had discussed ‘artificii leave Malta. Metaxi declared to his friend that he had learned di foco’ (firing equipment) and other machines and architecture. the experiment from Fra Vittorio. When summoned in font It thus transpires that Fra Vittorio considered himself to be, of the Inquisitor, Metaxi asserted that since he heard that Fra above all else, a man of science, of which magic then formed an Vittorio makes divination, he had told de Gaeta ‘gli dissi anco integral part. che ditto secreto m’havevo imparato il ditto Fra Vittorio Cassar si bene non e vero nemmeno il dette secreto, ma lo fu inventione mai Vittorio Cassar and Islam per burlarli.’ But Cassar’s formation as necromancer is unique, since it In reality, Cassar had an inquisitive mind and he did not was not only based on the learned magic of the Renaissance, miss an opportunity to discuss and learn new concepts in science, but managed to combine Christian beliefs with the beliefs and engineering or otherwise. Such an impression is best gained from practices of the Muslim world. Cassar obviously had access to JOURNAL OF THE INSTITUTE OF TOURISM STUDIES ISSUE 4 december 2009 | 11

this culture due to the presence of a multitude of Muslim slaves delay. At the time he seems to have spent most of his time in who were annually captured in the crusading activities of the Gozo, at least the middle months of the year 1600. in Gozo, Order of St John. By 1590 slaves (in Malta) numbered around Cassar appears to have participated fully in the activities that 3,000. took place there. Thanks to the presence of the Muslim slaves, it was Cassar admitted to have learned how to read and write possible for Vittorio Cassar to learn Arabic and he was often Arabic from a Moor by the name of Sellem, a slave of the called upon and requested by the Inquisition to describe the Order of St John, who walked with the aid of crutches due to a contents of Arabic books that were confiscated and perused on fall in which he broke both his legs. Sellem had been teaching the island. In a case against the ‘Moor’ called Hambar, slave of Cassar for several years and had even offered to teach him the Bailiff Fra Federico Cozza, Cassar admits: divination by invoking the stars in order to learn the future. Cassar admitted to have tried experiments on divination and Per la pratticha che io ho della lingua (araba), et even presented a copy book which was used for studying the anco simil sorte de fatture che sogliono fare i mori per lessons. He added that he considered divination as useless, essermene passate molte alter (scritte) per le mani si even though he had practised it several times. But that was come vostra Signoria che mi ha fatto chiamare alter before he learned that such practices were prohibited by the volte per il dette effetto. Church. Finally Cassar stated that Sellem had tried to teach him necromancy, which was called reuchamia in Arabic, but Cassar seems to have been considered as the Arabic he did not want to know anything about it since he knew that language ‘expert’ of the Tribunal. In a letter from Gozo dated it was prohibited. Obviously Cassar must have relied on the 22 July 1601, he asserts that he was unable to leave the sister general belief ‘che detti more facessero detti remedii operare per via island in order to examine some Arabic texts, since the di magarie, per virtu’ del demonio…Io intendo dire publicamente Council of the Order instructed him to return to Gozo without in piazza che question moro xich Selem sia publico magaro et

Cassar had an inquisitive mind and he did not miss an opportunity to discuss and learn new concepts in science, engineering or otherwise

According to the New Testament the end of the present world would be heralded by a multitude of signs such as wars, earthquakes and famines. One of the central symbols in the elaborate imagery of the Book of Revelation is a scroll sealed with seven seals, the opening of which lets fearful terrors loose upon the world: Death, the Fourth Horseman of the Apocalypse, is given power over a quarter of the world when the fourth seal is opened. Detail from The Triumph of Death, a series of frecoes by Francesco Traini 12 welcome IDEAS tourism culture heritage

ruined houses, or chapels as sites of buried treasure. Actual licences for the search of treasure trove were issued by several sixteenth-century Grand Masters. In 1530 one such licence was issued to Luca de Armenia and Antonio Callus to search for gold and silver hoards; in 1537 a similar license was issued to the medical doctor Giuseppe Callus; in 1536 (?) permission was given to Petro Calava; and finally Fra Simon Provost, Master of the Mint, was given permissiong to look for hidden treasure together with Gaspare Mombron, Antonuccio Bonelle and others, on condition that one-third of their finds had already been discovered before the advent of the Hospitaller Order in 1530. G. Wettinger points out that in 1525 a trove consisting of about thirteen pounds weight of Byzantine gold coins was discovered. The Franciscan Friar Minor, Fra Pietro di Malta, was obsessed with the idea of buried treasures. He was made to believe, by two of his friends, that in the chapel of St Paul the Hermit (sites at Wied il-G˙asel, Mosta) there was a hidden treasure. Such beliefs were not unfounded since excess cash was often deposited underground for safekeeping and such hoards occasionally turned up accidentally. There was not necessarily anything magical about the search for hidden treasure, but the assistance of a conjuror – often a Muslim slave who practised divination – was frequently invoked. The combination of gullibility and greed sometimes led people to foolish lengths, and people from all quarters of society used magical techniques to separate people from their An imaginative depiction of Dr. Faust, described by contemporaries as a money. The Canon of the Mdina Cathedral, Don Ambrosio charlatan. Later legends told how he performed feats of magic and made a pact with the devil. Dr. Faustus or The Astrologer by Rembrandt. Pace, had heard several rumours from ‘parecchi vecchi e homini

maleficio…’ as was earlier related by Mastro Dionisio Cardona. On his part, Sellem ben Mansur – an Egyptian from Cairo who at the time of his disposition declared himself to be about forty years of age – admitted that he knew how to read and write in Arabic and that he practiced astrology which he refers to as chot ir-ramel. He asserted that he came from a The combination of gullibility family of astrologers and that he had learned the ‘profession’ from his father. He added that Fra Vittorio Cassar had visited and greed sometimes led him thirty or forty days before, and asked Sellem to teach him astrology. Sellem obliged and gave Cassar several lessons, but people to foolish lengths, was not sure whether Cassar had understood what he tried to and people from all quarters teach him. of society used magical The Obsessive Search for Hidden Treasure The search for hidden treasure may be considered as a techniques to separate people major obsession of the sixteenth century elite. It whetted from their money the appetite of lawyers, notaries, priests and friars who practised demonic magic. Local fables frequently indicated JOURNAL OF THE INSTITUTE OF TOURISM STUDIES ISSUE 4 december 2009 | 13

atiani’ (several old men) that his house had originally belonged to Jews and that it should therefore contain a bured treasure since in the past several Jews had lived in Mdina. One day while at home he started to search for the treasure by digging in a corner of a room in the basement without any success. Sometime later, a Cypriot Greek suggested to Don Ambrosio that he should consult with a Muslim galley-slave who was an expert in such matters. The slave was brought over and he began to pace all over the basement while reading from a book. Owning and perusing the right book, however, was only the beginning of the search. The magician had then to locate the potential site of the treasure. He therefore asked Don Ambrosio to prove him with a plate in which he deposited a piece of gold and one of silver given to him by the owner of that house and insisted that the treasure was hidden in the area where Don Ambrosio had dug. For this service, the galley-slave obtained a gold ring and added that he needed the help of another slave. When the slave-magician returned accompanied by his friend, he asked for a black hen – which had to be killed in the trench – and another ring, both of which were provided by Don Ambrosio. At this point however, the Canon realized he was being fooled and turned them out of his house. Gaspare Bonnichi from Vittoriosa had similarly been fooled by a galley-slave who used the same kind Goddess of Fortune: The common man, unconcerned with lofty concepts of fate of divination. and free will, felt himself to be at the mercy of capricious gods who had to be placated Yet people did not always resort to Muslim slaves to look if the worst decrees of destiny were to be avoided: Medieval representation of the goddess of fortune with six hands, symbols of providence and protection for hidden treasure. In 1596 the painter Mattheo Stagno of Valletta confessed that he had been invited by the French knight Fra Aboglion to help Fra Vittorio Cassar search for the treasure in a plot of land which Cassar owned in Birkirkara. He stated that those present included Jacobo Caminici from Vittoriosa and Jachi Francese (cook of the Prior of Naples). On their arrival on the site, Fra Vittorio placed four swords in the form of a cross and, kneeling down, started reading slowly from a book. His companions put blessed palm branches on the cross. A few days later, the French knight Fra Gabriel Lepetit asserted that from the moment that he had obtained permission from the Grand Master to seek buried treasure, many Maltese revealed to him that in an area of Birkirkara, there was a treasure buried and that Cassar was the first to approach him. On his part, Fra Vittorio Cassar recalled how his father Gerolamo knew about the existence of this treasure

Early seventeenth century portrait of a Hospitaller (dated 1633).the painting includes the coat-of-arms of the Cassar family (top-left corner). The two Cassar brothers, Vittorio and Gabriele, were in fact members of the Order. Could it be that this portrait represent the younger brother, Gabriele? He was surely middle-aged by 1633 14 welcome IDEAS tourism culture heritage

and had once told him that in the Church of Santa Sophia in ‘accommodate’ a bone taken from the body of a hanged man Constantinople they keep a record of all treasure and for that on which he wrote an invocation starting with the words reason he had bought that particular area of land. In order to scongiuro vos. Cassar was reputed to have taught Camarda how identify the spot, Gerolamo put four large stones, but since to invoke the spirits in order to search for buried treasure and his death, during the reign of Grand Master Verdalle (1582 how to employ ink on the finger nails of a pregnant woman or – 1595), Fra Vittorio had not bothered to look for treasure. a virgin which had to be accompanied by prayers (including Not long afterwards Fra Lepetit, accompanied by Cassar, spent three Pater Nosters and Ave Marias) and then invoke an evil many a night looking for treasure in that area. The French spirit from whom he could learn anything he wanted to know, knight admitted that this went on for three continuous months to alleviate his miseries, to attract women and even to endure and that the area had originally belonged to the ‘governor of torture. Tiberio even kept on his own person a paper in an the Jews’. In the course of the search, both Fra Vittorio and unknown script which would help him overcome his rival in himself had heard a lot of noise and had seen a black man and a duel. a horse in that place. But although they had dug up parts of Cassar’s reputation as sorcerer seems to have remained the area, they had failed to find any hidden treasure. strong in later years among those who had to endure torture. In March 1607, a young Maltese man named Alessandro Sorcerer, Healer and Diviner alias Elefante – imprisoned at the Grand Master’s prisons and On 19 October 1595, Mario Xuereb reported a discussion, awaiting to be tortured by means of the corda – asked Vittorio for which he was present, between Tiberio Camarda and his Cassar to prepare a potion that could make him bear the pains friend Julio Cassia. The three of them were imprisoned in of torture so that he would not be forced to confess. the same cell at the Grand Master’s prisons, where Camarda It appears that Fra Vittorio took pride in his role admitted that he had learned a great deal on necromancy from as necromancer. Mariano Deadriano, a Sicilian from Fra Vittorio. Amongst other details, he had learned how to Castrogiovanni (modern Enna) who served as clerk in the

The Cabala’s central doctrine deals with the unfolding of the hidden and unknowable Robert Fludd’s key to the universe: the physical and spiritual attributes of archetypal God into the ‘fullness’ of the manifest God, known by his works. A diagram of the man, the microcosm, are shown to have their exact counterparts, on a larger scale, universe by the 17th century author Robert Fludd, with the links between the hidden in the universe, the macrocosm God and the world JOURNAL OF THE INSTITUTE OF TOURISM STUDIES ISSUE 4 december 2009 | 15

building of the Gozo fort (Forte Garzes at Mgarr harbour [Gozo]), considered himself a good friend and close associate of Fra Vittorio, the architect of that project. Fra Vittorio often had long discussions with the Sicilian clerk and confided many secrets to him. Amongst other things, Fra Vittorio admitted that he knew enough secrets on necromancy and magic to permit him to get in touch with the devils and spirits whenever he wished. He added that he had a good number of books on necromancy and magic which he hid in order not to be confiscated by the Inquisition. Cassar even agreed to teach necromancy to two of his friends from Messina and who had spent some time with him in Gozo. Deadriano further added that Vittorio Cassar was gran magaro (a great wizard). Mariano also stated that Vittorio could communicate with the spirits by putting some ink on the palm of the hand of a virgin boy, and by proferring several words, he could command the spirits to comply with his wishes and to make him win in games. The evidence given by Deadriano seems to contain a strong element of truth. A couple of years earlier, the French knight Fra Antonio Ghijon declared that ‘per le tante preghiere’ (due to the many pleadings), Fra Vittorio agreed to adoperate divination in order to win in the game of dice. Fra Ghijon added that he had resorted to divination techniques because he had lost a sum of nine hundred scudi to another French knight Fra Musu La Lea. Fra Ghijon further believed that ‘ditto cavaliere guadagnava al gioco con qualche artificio e virtue diabolica per il che io mi pigliai gran dolore’. Thus a few days later, in the vicinity of the Carmelite Chruch in Valletta, he met Cassar in the house of a Greek woman called Lucretia. On this occasion Fra Vittorio adoperated palmistry on a nine year old girl by writing with ink on her hand and after having smeared her thumbs with oil, he interrogated her on the fact that Fra Ghijon had lost such a hefty sum of money in dice games. The girl declared that she could see:

Un personaggio ben vestito con una corona al capo, e The Hanged Man, a card from the Tarot pack, still used in fortune telling molte altre persona che lo seguitavano…ma noi non porevamo vedere cosa alcuna e ditto Fra Vittorio disse che le cause era perche io e lui non eramo vergini, ma oneself from aggression, predict the future or acquire wealth la filiola le vedeva perche era vergine…e la figliola disse or love. Obviously, the Church considered consultation che quelli spiriti gli respondeano e in particolare quello with the spirits as the type of divination technique that della corona gli diceva, che detto cevaliere mi havea was potentially the most dangerous. Fortune-telling was guadagnato detti danari al gioco con arte diabolica particularly sinister, since it was often connected with sorcery stante che teneva un spirito astretto in un anello che and the casting of spells. Witch beliefs were particularly wide- portava al deto iccolo della man destra… spread, since medical knowledge then proved inadequate, while magic could always be put forward as an explanation. The belief in spirits, present in daily life, formed the basis In such circumstances, Cassar seems to have adoperated a on which both popular and learned magic could develop, basic stereotyped method both for divination and healing for it was possible to use their supernatural powers to protect purposes. 16 welcome IDEAS tourism culture heritage

Astrology with the three Fates of Greek Mythology, Clotho, the spinner of destiny, Lachesis, weaver of chance, and Atropos, who cuts the thread of life: from a French cabalistic manuscript

Probably Cassar’s medical knowledge must have been influenced by readings from the Greek writer Galen, who, following Aristotle, believed that man derives life from the vital spirits which travel from the left ventricle of the heart to all parts of the body, including the brain. One must keep in mind that the Church strongly prohibited the dissection of human bodies by doctors. Since healing methods at the time were mostly based on suppositions, it was normal for most healers to believe that they could attain supernatural powers which involved mystery. Thus Henciona, wife of Vittorio Cassar’s cousin Leonardo Gadineo, resorted to the expert necromancer to heal her fifteen-month-old daughter, after she had consulted several physicians without effect and had also requested to various priests and friars for exorcism, but no one could cure her daughter. Having visited the girl, Cassar asked his cousin-in-law to procure him a virgin girl, upon which Henciona admits:

Io desiderosa della sanita di mia figlia, chiamai li in casa un fighliola de Mastro Francesco Doneo chiamata Caterina d’anni otto mia vicina e detto Fra Vittorio gli prese il detto police della mano e gli raschio un poco l’ungio di quello, e con un poco d’olio comune che mi dimando gli l’onse, et interrogo’ detta figliola si vedeva qualche cose nel ungio, e lei respose che vedeva una faccia allora detto Fra ttorio gli disse e dimando in questa maniera che infirmita tiene questa figliola intendendo per la mia Caterina gli respondeva di no, allora dimando sara questa infirmita causata dalla parte di dietro o’ davanti, del capo, e respose la figliola che l’infirmita veniva dalla parte de inant del cerbro…

According to the Provencal member of the Order, Fra Gioanni Forneri, Fra Vittorio applied palmistry even for love magic. Elaborating, Forneri said that Cassar called a young six- year-old boy who was passing by. He made him open the palm of his hand and started scribbling in ink and proferring several words from a book. But the experiment was not completed as they boy took fright and ran away. But Cassar adopted the same type of divination techniques against the baneful influences of the evil eyes which threatened the relationship

Symbols of the golden sun and the horned moon, in astrology the principal arbiters of a man’s fate JOURNAL OF THE INSTITUTE OF TOURISM STUDIES ISSUE 4 december 2009 | 17

aid of her sixteen year old daughter Marietta. Both women admitted that the previous year Marietta had been mistreated by her husband Natale Rizza, who wanted to establish himself in Sicily. For this reason, the two women asked the help of a Moorish slave who prescribed the mixing of a consecrated host with her husband’s wine.

Vittorio Cassar and Popular Magic Vittorio Cassar certainly looked down on popular magic. On 17 August 1596, he accused a Greek middle-aged woman named Calli of having practised magic by thrusting a black- handled knife in an onion while proferring some secret. Cassar explained that Calli’s intention was to hinder the galleys of the Order from departing from Malta since her carnal friend was sailing on one of them. He added ‘et in effetto il temp fu cattivo e non si partero, e detta Calli e’ una magara di importanza, che fa molto magaire’.Cassar also accused a close friend of Calli, Sevasti Landolina, who had at one time been the carnal friend of the Italian knight Bonviso. Sevastulla had, at some time in the past, asked Calli to prepare a love potion for her. Cassar even accused the two women of having sprinkled salt in fire and thrust a black handled knife in a flower pot while invoking the stars. But the worst accusation was directed against Sevastulla, who reputedly kept a manu pagana – the hand of a pagan (probably meaning non-Christian) infant wrapped in pearls, silk, coral, gold thread and amber – in order to be loved by several men. Cassar asserted that he had seen the manu pagana and believed that Calli had procured it for Sevasti.

Astrological diagram showing the parts of the body which each zodiac sign id supposed to affect between two married partners. Margarita Liftech, who lived at the castello del Gozzo (Gozo Citadel), wanted to check whether her son-in-law, Bricio Cilia, had been induced to turn his attention to the love of a courtesan because he was maleficiato. On this occasion, Fra Vittorio made use of the services of a twelve-year-old girl who, on having her nail thumbs smeared with oil asserted that she could see the shadows of two negro slaves. Such activity suggest that the insecurity of married life was particularly felt by the wife who often remained at home under the tutelage of her mother, while the husband plied his trade away from the home. A good example of this is provided by the mother and sister of Fra Vittorio himself. On 23 Septmber 1596 Mathia, widow of Mastro Gerolamo l’Ingegneri and mother of Fra Vittorio, admitted to have adoperated a magical formula in This unusual 18th century engraving eloquently illustrates alchemy’s dual nature, which is normally obscured in more elaborate symbolism 18 welcome IDEAS tourism culture heritage

Magical practices offered men and women a ritual way of dealing with crisis situations which complemented, rather than competed against, the role of Detail of a water colour by Salvatore Busuttil of Garzes Tower, the Church in society, M©arr, Gozo which was built by Vittorio Cassar. The tower was demolished by the British in the 19th Century replying as it did on the That same month Vittorio Cassar was imprisoned at Fort sacred for its efficacy St Elmo by the Holy Office, presumably due to his activities as necromancer. He told several members of the St Elmo garrison that the two women, Calli and Sevasti, had landed him in prison and that he would have justice on his release. The relationship between popular and learned magic is a thorny question which can yield a great deal of information on popular and elite interactions in early modern Malta. It appears that in the early years of the Order’s rule, the illiterate and the literate worlds were much closer, simply because belief in spirits and the supernatural formed the basis on which both learned and popular magic could develop; ‘for it was possible to use their supernatural powers to protect oneself from aggression, predict the future and acquire wealth or love’. The belief in sympathetic magic and the occult versions of charms and incantations had their popular variations. So, if the magara recied incantations to heal the sick, the necromancer made us of the printed word which had power to control the disease. Thus on 25 February 1608, the Gozitan priest Mattheo Zahra denounced Fra Vittorio of exorcising a Maltese woman from Zebbug in the Church of St John at the Gozo Castle. On this occasion, Fra Vittorio used a small hand-written black book which Don Mattheo assumed to be il flagellum o’ fustis Demonum. Both Don Mattheo and Mastro Vincentio Liftech asserted that Fra Vittorio invoked the devils whom he commanded to leave the poor woman. Meanwhile, he ordered the woman to go back and forth on her knees from the door of the church to the altar, pulling her hair all the time while ordering the evil spirit to leave her body. Members of The death of Vittorio Cassar on 6th August 1609 was a subject of great the clergy, like Don Mattheo, were obviously furious at such gossip in the harbour towns of Malta as confirmed by this Inquisition document. Cassar was considered to be of great learning JOURNAL OF THE INSTITUTE OF TOURISM STUDIES ISSUE 4 december 2009 | 19

Front page of a list of prohibited books burned by the Inquisition Tabula: Divination Table originally belonging to Vittorio Cassar. It was confiscated at the main square of Vittoriosa in May 1609 by the Inquisition and produced as evidence against Cassar in a case of Sorcery activities since exorcism was the realm of the clerics, even without going through the proper ecclesiastical channels. No though as Mastro Liftech asserted, besides being a member of wonder that soon after the death of Fra Vittorio Cassar on 7 the Order of St John, Fra Vittorio was also a cleric of the first August 1609, Gioanne Camilleri, referring to the knight who tonsure. Magical practices offered men and women a ritual way had replaced Fra Vittorio Cassar, asserted of dealing with crisis situations which complemented, rather than competed against, the role of the Church in society, Piu sufficiente de Fra Vittorio non puo essere nemeno replying as it did on the sacred for its efficacy. credo che in tutta l’Italia se potra trovare altro che sappi Learned magic was an entirely male phenomenon (clerical quanto sa lui, ne che habbi tanti secreti poiche In casa and lay), with women as passive observers, although it too sua ha tanti libri e sa quanto un demonio… made use of the realm of the sacred by frequently employing priests to conduct the intricate ceremonies. It was a well- Thus, learned magic left a great impact on popular magic articulated cosmology which competed against the monopoly at both town and village level in Malta, despite the Church’s of official religion. When applied at the local level, it did not firm opposition to both forms. attempt to confront the existential crises with which popular Ironically, popular magic, with no texts and magic frequently dealt. It concerned itself with the location of comprehensive philosophical system, was to outlive its learned buried wealth, protection from bullets and its own type of love counterpart, surviving into the present day. The relation of charisma, besides satisfying the needs of those who employed it. popular magic, especially sorcery, to diabolical witchcraft has It is evident that the common folk were strongly attracted proved equally unshakeable. W to the magical resources of literacy and they often used writing Transcribed by Victoria-Melita Zammit from Witchcraft, Sorcery and the Inquisition: to communicate with supernatural forces, “unofficially”, A Study of Cultural Values in Early Modern Malta, Carmel Cassar, Msida, Minerva Publications 1996 20 welcome IDEAS tourism culture heritage

Envisioning the Future: Far-sighted writers francesca Farrugia Francesca Farrugia is a Lecturer in Technical English and British Culture throughout at the Institute of Tourism Studies. the Ages

“ But a new race has arisen ven the most cursory of glances at a list detailing the Eten most ardently-watched television programmes throughout Europe, nursed in the around the United Kingdom in the last year recalls the words abhorrence of the opinions which of a certain satirical maestro of the eighteenth century. Amongst other delights, the mainstream audience alluded are its chains, and she will continue to in this media review appear to have feasted on such fare as the ‘display’ of so-called celebrities who have long passed their to produce fresh generations to sell-by dates. These are shown as either daringly attempting accomplish that destiny which to replicate complex rumba steps, and being duly humiliated in the process, or being obliged to consume nausea-inducing tyrants foresee and dread.” animal parts in a nightmarish tropical setting. Alternatively, we have the inspiring spectacle of a wide variety of ‘ordinary’ Percy Bysshe Shelley, Preface contestants indulging in slanging matches as they compete for a plum job with a pugnacious, cantankerous media and in Hellas: A Lyrical Drama computers magnate. JOURNAL OF THE INSTITUTE OF TOURISM STUDIES ISSUE 4 december 2009 | 21

It is no wonder that such gems of the genre referred to his crucifixion and to have been shown the divine plans for as ‘reality tv’ should evoke the sterile landscape of folly and humanity. Also, perhaps most importantly, were revealed frivolity over which the Goddess Dulness presides in the to her the enormity of unconditional love directed towards literary work by the author previously referred to – in other humankind, notwithstanding the sins committed by the latter. words, Alexander Pope’s Dunciad. Indeed, as quasi-nihilistic She originally penned a smattering of her thoughts, entitled as Pope’s magnum opus may seem, verses such as the following Revelations of Divine Love, in 1373, but these were revisited could be said to provide a particularly prophetic backdrop for some twenty years later and, with the benefit of hindsight, much of what passes as small screen entertainment today1: much prayer and contemplation as well as some scholarly refining, were enlarged upon to showcase her understanding of …Science groans in Chains, the experience. And Wit dreads Exile, Penalties and Pains. Julian does not appear to have had an academic grounding There foam’d rebellious Logic, gagg’d and bound, of the same calibre as other monastics/mystics of the time – a There, stript, fair Rhet’ric languish’d situation which was quite imaginable, given the gender bias on the ground2. of the era – however, she possesses the honour of being the first female author to have been published in the English However much discerning audiences may regard today’s language. This, in itself, already singles her out as being worthy popular television programmes with an ever-growing revulsion, of note. In addition to this, it is of interest to point out here it is not the intention of this article to bemoan the current that though her diction is simplistic, unencumbered by arcane state of mass media recreation avenues. Instead, I shall be symbolism and abstruse tropes, one finds occasional flashes of taking the literary citation named before as the starting point literary embellishment, as mild as these may be: for a journey through the ages and a simultaneous glimpse at writings which have, in some manner or another, proposed or One time mine understanding was led down into the debated notions containing the intriguingly innovative or the sea-ground, and there I saw hills and dales green, provocatively prescient. seeming as it were moss-be-grown, with Though she may be distant from the twenty-first century, wrack and gravel. Then I understood thus: that if in the temporal as well as the zeitgeist sense, the enigmatic a man or woman were under the broad water, if he Julian of Norwich has recently become the subject of a might have sight of God so as God is with a man remarkable amount of scholarly concern. A good number continually, he should be safe in body and soul, and of studies have focussed on her status within the domains take no harm: and overpassing, he should have more of theology, gender studies, literature and even esotericism. solace and comfort than all this world can tell.3 Thought to have been given her unusual appellation from the church of St. Julian in Norwich, in which she spent most of her days as an anchorite, Julian is mostly renowned for her reflections on godliness and, in particular, her visions of the Christ figure. The fact that her origins are somewhat obscure – little is known about her life other than her seclusion from society, and that she was very likely a Benedictine nun – contributes in some measure to the current fascination with her writings, especially in an age which relishes the forensic- like uncovering of information on subjects which had, till some time ago, received scanty attention. The full import of this personage, however, comes to view when a closer look is cast at the nature of her work. The turning point in Julian’s life seems to have occurred when, at the age of thirty, she succumbed to an illness which she believed was life-threatening. The symptoms of her ailment appear to have produced hallucinations and so-called visions, in which she claimed to have been able to empathise with the suffering of the Christ figure during 22 welcome IDEAS tourism culture heritage

What truly sets her apart from her contemporaries, nature. This is in marked contrast to the view of the god figure though, or predecessors for that matter, is the manner in which - particularly prominent during an age when the idea of order she sets out her ‘showings’. One particularly fresh notion that and structure was weighed above all else, as in the concept comes across in the Revelations of Divine Love is that humans of the Chain of Being – as unempathetic, isolated from his are worthy of divine attention, with all their manifest faults, flock and swift to exact punishment on the erring, sinful be these present in the material body or the intangible spirit4. portion of his subjects. Rather than the patriarchal picture Even more so, her writing, with its presentation of the body, of a stern, vengeful deity, the reader of Julian’s Revelations is alludes to the idea that the corporeal fold is not merely a presented with the image of someone soft, nurturing – one is prison which one longs to escape from in order to be ultimately informed of his “tender love”7, and exhorted not to despair, embraced in heavenly bliss, or which must needs be mortified as “he blameth not [me] for sin”8. When Julian enquires as because of its propensity to baseness and lust. In itself, this is to how the faithful may redeem themselves, she reports that not only a departure from the monastic discourse and practices the answer comes back to her “full meekly, and with lovely of asceticism and degradation of the flesh, but also from a cheer”9. The significance of this element of the Revelations reluctance, as evinced in such great works as Dante’s The cannot be emphasised enough; Julian’s writings can be said Divine Comedy, to associate any person or character of purity to be ‘futuristic’ due not only to their prophetic quality and and beauty with fleshly attributes5. Julian’s language displays the avant-garde nature of their stylistic forms, but also the a substantiality which is certainly unusual, given both her very uncharacteristic rendering of spiritual concerns of the day. particular circumstances of being a hermit and also the general Forward-looking in an altogether different sense in that disposition of the time towards the body. Indeed, in the first it prefigures cautionary tales of arrogance, over-achievement part of her revelations, she describes the bleeding head of the and science fraught with questionable ethics, such as Mary Christ figure in meticulous delineation, positively dwelling Shelley’s Frankenstein, is Paracelsus’ notion of the homunculus upon the blood in gory detail: of alchemy. Born Philip Von Hohenheim, the sense of self- importance of this personage becomes all too clear when In all the time that He shewed this that I have told now in spiritual sight, I saw the bodily sight lasting of the plenteous bleeding of the Head. The great drops of blood fell down from under the Garland like pellots, seeming as it had come out of the veins; and in the coming out they were brown-red, for the blood was full thick; and in the spreading-abroad they were bright-red; and when they came to the brows, then they vanished; notwithstanding, the bleeding continued till many things were seen and understood. The fairness and the lifelikeness is like nothing but the same; the plenteousness is like to the drops of water that fall off the eaves after a great shower of rain, that fall so thick that no man may number them with bodily wit; and for the roundness, they were like to the scale of herring, in the spreading on the forehead. These three came to my mind in the time: pellots, for roundness, in the coming out of the blood; the scale of herring, in the spreading in the forehead, for roundness; the drops off eaves, for the Julian’s writings can be said to be plenteousness innumerable.6 ‘futuristic’ due not only to their

Were it to be removed from its context, one might claim prophetic quality and the avant-garde this as the first ever example of gothic writing! nature of their stylistic forms, but Another aspect of Julian’s writing which is nothing also the uncharacteristic rendering of short of remarkable is her tendency to portray godly attitudes spiritual concerns of the day towards humans as indulgent, merciful, somewhat maternal in JOURNAL OF THE INSTITUTE OF TOURISM STUDIES ISSUE 4 december 2009 | 23

one learns that he first adopted the impossibly grandiloquent moniker of Theophrastus Philippus Aureolus Bombastus von Hohenheim, later apparently preferring to be referred to as Paracelsus, in allusion to a Roman writer named Aulus Cornelius Celsus. The latter was well-known for his research on a number of varying topics, such as botany, astrology and medicine, and Paracelsus deemed himself to be worthy of comparison, if not far superior to, this much earlier scientist – hence his assumed name, which means ‘equal to or greater than Celsus.’ Perhaps it could be stated that Paracelsus holds an equally strong footing in the realms of medical history and pseudoscience. Indeed, he is credited with, amongst other things, the creation of laudanum, an opiate used to relieve pain which was extremely common up until the nineteenth century, the naming of zinc and the discovery of the fact that diseases were not merely the cause of an imbalance in the four humours inherent in the body10, but a result of an assault on the immune system by outside elements. However, Paracelsus’ notion of the homunculus remains one of the most curious theories put forward by this eccentric figure. His depiction of this ‘little man’, and the manner in which it should be created, evoke visions of black-clad sorcerers scattering collections of obscure herbs into foul- smelling concoctions under a full moon, all the while muttering fearsome incantations. One recalls the heath- haunting hideous hags who set in motion the series of events which eventually reach a horrifying climax in Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Paracelsus details the components for the creation of this being as one would reel off the ingredients of a much- loved dish: you need, he says, a bag of bones, sperm, skin The ‘anatomical furnace’ for the distillation of urine, from a treatise fragments and hair of any animal the homunculus will be a based on Paracelsus’ principle of examining urine chemically to hybrid of. This delightful mixture should be allowed to rest diagnose diseases. Paracelsus has been describes as the ‘first modern in the ground for forty days, surrounded by horse manure, medical scientist’ , the precursor of of microchemistry, antisepsis, modern wound surgery and a number of other modern achievements. after which time an embryo will form11. The result, claims

The idea of the golem was linked with the belief that artificial human beings could be created by alchemy, a belief stimulated by symbolic pictures like these, showing the creation of a spirit in the vessel. ‘Let two or at the most three parts of our mercury liquefy, one part of silver or gold of the vulgar, subtiliated, and they will become one body, spongious and inseperable, which is called our silver or gold, and not of the vulgar...’. from Cabala Mineralis, an alchemical manuscript in the British Museum 24 welcome IDEAS tourism culture heritage

is painted as being a fickle, untrustworthy being, having the tendency to rebel against its owner and flee. As convenient as this claim may have been, in that Paracelsus could insist that he was unable to produce evidence of his miniature being when this was demanded of him, it is but a tiny portion of his writings which nonetheless may be posited as having a number of far-reaching influences, not least, of course, the young Mary Shelley’s story, a fiction which was to have unprecedented and far-reaching implications and inspiration for both the literary and the scientific worlds. Indeed, this article will address the immense impact of the monster/ creator myth immanent in Shelley’s tale. First, though, it behoves us to immerse ourselves in the works of a writer whose every word has been pored over with a seemingly rapacious thirst since his death, new and ever-threatening significations being attached to his verses with the passing of time. I am speaking, of course, of Michel de Nostradame, or Nostradamus, as he is better known. Nostradamus may be Dante Alighieri: in the Divine Comedy the reader ascends with him ‘from the depths contrasted to the personages previously dwelt upon in that he (of hell) to the region of ‘supreme bliss’. In this allegorical portrait, of the Florentine School, the poet is shown gazing across a river, probably Acheron, to the Mountain of Purgatory was quite well-known during his lifetime – which certainly cannot be said of the elusive Julian of Norwich, for instance Paracelsus, is a being which stands not more than twelve – and also generally well-liked, which cannot be attributed inches tall, and is bound to serve its creator. Interestingly, to Paracelsus, whose egotism and conceit often made him the creature is described as being set tasks similar to those the object of distrust and antipathy. Nostradamus began his demanded of the figure of the golem, the part-beast part- career as an apothecary, moving on to become a physician’s human organism of Judaic folklore which was said to have assistant, despite having been disallowed to continue his been fashioned out of clay and inscribed with words or symbols studies in medicine at the University of Montpellier. It seems containing magical properties in order to protect the Jewish that Nostradamus’ past as a purveyor of remedies was frowned race. However, just as in the best-known version of the fable upon, in that aspiring doctors were not supposed to have of the golem, which features the sixteenth-century rabbi held jobs which focussed on manual skills, as an apothecary Judah Loew ben Bezalel12 as its protagonist, the homunculus was considered to do. Nostradamus was, however, initially quite determined to set himself up as a professional healer, and travelled to different parts of France and Italy in order

In the Inferno, the first part of the Divine Comedy, Dante describes his to expand his knowledge of medicine, especially herbal journey through the ten circles of hell with the Latin poet Virgil as his tonics. It was the visits that Nostradamus undertook to Italy guide: detail from Signorelli’s Last Judgement in Orvieto Cathedral, which appear to have awakened his interest in the occult, showing the damned tormented by the winged, horned demons of hell and he began to concentrate his efforts on the latter to a great extent, moving away from his medical practice. Soon after the second trip to Italy, Nostradamus began to write his celebrated quatrains, which were published in a book named Les Propheties. Among those who were very much taken with Nostradamus’ writings was King Henri II’s consort Queen Catherine de Médicis. Other views of his work held by members of the public ranged from the belief that his writings were the ramblings of a madman, to awe at his predictions, which were said to span centuries and presage numerous events. But it is current views of Nostradamus’ prophecies, especially those concerning the tragic World Trade Centre JOURNAL OF THE INSTITUTE OF TOURISM STUDIES ISSUE 4 december 2009 | 25

attacks of 2001 and the supposed forthcoming appearance of the antichrist, which are of particular interest here. As during his lifetime, and, to be sure, as one would expect, current positions on Nostradamus’ writings run the gamut from incredulity to absolute faith. The ‘followers’ continually set about validating his supposed predictions, building a series of arguments, publishing books or dedicating websites to this13. Undoubtedly, occurrences such as the September 11 events are conducive to more than a smattering of apocalyptism, with pessimists rushing to proclaim the onset of generic disaster, doom and, of course, the complete destruction of the human race and much of the natural world. Yet what is it about Nostradamus’ writings which has engendered such passionate reactions from both opposing ends of the spectrum? As has been mentioned above, the World Trade Centre strike was the first recent event which rekindled the curiosity of a twenty-first century public in Nostradamus’ prognostications. As outpourings of grief reached their peak in the immediate aftermath of the assaults, other emotions began – understandably enough - to ride high in the sea of confusion and anguish. The most easily discernible one was, of course, fear. An e-mail playing on this very feeling began to be distributed around various online communities, stating that the events which the beloved alpha metropolis had suffered had, in fact, been decreed centuries before:

Nostradamus enthusiasts believe that each of his four-line verses contains an individual prophecy, and he is credited with foretelling the outbreak of the Second World wear: imaginary portrait of Nostradamus

the World Trade Centre strike was the first recent event which rekindled the curiosity of a twenty-first century public in Nostradamus’ prognostications 26 welcome IDEAS tourism culture heritage

“In the City of God there will be a great thunder, – the closely-embroidered symbolism of William Blake’s later Two brothers torn apart by Chaos, while the fortress poetry, such as the mythological machinery of The Four Zoas. endures, the great leader will succumb”, The latter envisages a system of creation which is allegorical of The third big war will begin when the big city is a new world order, ensconced within an innovative philosophy burning”14 that is free of the moral strictures of established societies and religions. As convoluted as its structure may be, Blake’s These words were, of course, attributed to Nostradamus, colossal poetic world is capable of being interpreted, once the date of the extract from which they were taken quoted the outer shell is deciphered. Not so Nostradamus’ quatrains, as being 1654. This is, in itself, highly intriguing, especially which are, first and foremost, discrete – rather than pieces of considering that the date of Nostradamus’ death is usually a composite whole - not to mention obscure, with numerous given as 1566! Clearly, the whole incident was nothing but a abstruse mythological references. Of course, one may posit prank calculated to strike terror into the hearts of the gullible. the reason for this as extreme caution taken not to provoke Things did not, however, stop here, and a further September the ire of Catholic authorities, in an age when persecution via 11 email soon began to do the rounds of online recipients. This the Inquisition was still rife. However, this theory does not time, it displayed, as the ‘uncanny’ evidence of Nostradamus’ really hold water when we come to realise that prophecy or accuracy of predictions, the following passage: divination was not considered an offence against the Catholic Church, so long as the person in question did not actually “Two steel birds will fall from the sky on the use any occult rites to put the theories outlined into practice. Metropolis. The sky will burn at forty-five degrees latitude. Fire approaches the great new city. Immediately a huge, scattered flame leaps up. Within months, rivers will flow with blood. The undead will roam earth for little time.”15

A comparison between the above and the following genuine extract reveals that this, too, is an entire fabrication:

“At forty-five degrees the sky will burn, Fire to approach the great new city: In an instant a great scattered flame will leap up, When one will want to demand proof of the Normans.”16

As can be seen, there is no mention at all of steel birds, nor does Nostradamus conjure up an image which seems to have emerged straight from a B-rated zombie or vampire gorefest. In fact, Nostradamus’ text is noteworthy precisely for its lack of clarity. To be sure, Nostradamus’s verses are not deficient in colourful language - one may encounter phrases such as “pestilential deed”, be told to beware of “the plunder[ing of] Sun and Moon and…[the] violat[ion of] their temples”17. Of course, what these words of wisdom actually portend is another kettle of fish – suffice to say that if one enjoys an overactive imagination, several widely varying meanings can be settled upon! As a matter of fact, a careful perusal of the author’s Prophecies uncovers a meticulous In a famous painting, The Ancient of Days, the power of reason, named Urizen in avoidance of the perspicuous. Nostradamus’s text can, William Blake’s mythological system, is shown creating the visible, material world. however, hardly be said to possess– to draw a comparison For William Blake this event was the same as the ‘Fall into Division’, the usurpation between the Prophecies and another work of visionary import by reason of ‘Jesus the Imagination’, the divinity which is in every human being. The dividers symbolize both rational creation and the divisive spiritual influence of reason JOURNAL OF THE INSTITUTE OF TOURISM STUDIES ISSUE 4 december 2009 | 27

CHRIST, Mabus is his name…..!”19 The post contains a list of ‘indelible proofs’ which are supposed to provide an inextricable link between the then Senator Obama and the cloven- hooved one, such as the fact that he “will come mounted on a white Female horse (Obama mother [sic] is white who had 12 African husbands and lovers)”20, that, as Mabus, he “will use Mind Control to obtain control of the ignorant masses”21, although, this loyal supporter of Nostradamus’ reassures us that “those who read this note will be free from his mental hold”22. The American public must have, indeed, been grateful to this scholar of sixteenth-century prophetic texts for pointing them towards the path of salvation. One could continue to quote from the list of rants for quite a while yet, the other items of which might provide food for a good, raucous belly-laugh, were it not for the fact that a great deal of them are couched in language which is as frighteningly racist and xenophobic as it is peppered with ignorance and cultural gaffes, such as the following: “He will come to deceive( Obama says he’s a Christian but in fact he was born a Muslim, practices the Rather, Nostradamus seems to have taken insurance against Islamic religion, prays Friday’s [sic] facing Mecca)”23. the discrediting of his works, by ensuring that his prophecies One wonders what the actions and reactions of the were formulated in language the diction of which was esteemed author of this post were upon learning the final unfathomable enough to maximise diversity of interpretation. presidential election results. Did he perhaps retreat to his It must be said that one of the more compelling cases to be own ivory tower, and proceed to pronounce curses upon the made for this constitutes the quatrain said to deal with the alleged bearer of all iniquity? Or did he pray for a miraculous figure of the antichrist, whom Nostradamus devotees believe transformation of the contents of the apparently evil one’s is, in one specific portion of the prophecies, named as Mabus: heart? We can only speculate. Of course, we are living in an age which has been steeped in technology for quite some time “Mabus” then will soon die, there will come now, an age in which the worldwide web has now been in Of people and beasts a horrible rout: use for more than a decade and a half.24 This evolution of a Then suddenly one will see vengeance, Hundred, hand, thirst, hunger when the comet will run.”18

This very quatrain was, at least eighteen to twenty-one months ago, the basis for much debate, speculation and seemingly also, at times, religious hysteria. The timeframe is particularly important, for we are speaking of the months leading up to the Presidential elections in North America, when the campaigns were in full swing, and members of the public were increasingly vociferous about their choice of candidate and her/his opponents. It was, in fact, Senator Obama who found his name being bandied about over various websites dedicated to – of all things – ‘exposing’ the politico as the true antichrist alluded to in Nostradamus’ writings. A glaring example of the latter can be seen in one of the fora dedicated to the discussion of current events at the time – that Director George Pal’s adaptation of H.G. Well’s science-fiction novel of is, February 2008 - entitled “Topix”, which formed part of the social criticism avoids being preachy in its depiction of the beautiful Eloi and their violent Morlock overlords. We’re also introduced to the wonders of Indianapolis, Indiana news website. The ‘startling discovery’ time-lapse photography as flowers bloom and wither and, in a hilarious view was posted under the title “PROOF OBAMA IS THE ANTI- of female fashions, hemlines fall and rise and fall again 28 welcome IDEAS tourism culture heritage

Mary Shelley

Shelley’s Frankenstein into Nostradamus, but many people have. Nostradamus was a believing Christian and it’s possible that his visions were was indeed ahead of its legitimate Godly revelations.”26 In other words, the writer has no legitimate proof of what the website is suggesting, nor does time in style, content... he even have much faith in the website’s claim! His action of placing this post are, of course, not hard to understand at all in the context of wishing to provoke a reaction, a feat which his previously less accessible world into that of a global village has comments invariably did, as can be seen if one cares to follow put internet users in contact with any number of eccentric, the link placed below. fanatical characters, often masquerading as completely The conclusions which may be drawn from this section of different persons through their online personalities and the article are that Nostradamus certainly chose an effective occasionally harbouring and indeed broadcasting dangerous way of ensuring that his name would continue to be recalled, views. However, when those views are published under the his works to be debated through the ages. By purporting to guise of a supposedly benign, indeed, Christian organisation, divine catastrophic events and foretell great occurrences there is cause for concern. The ‘mission statement’, as it were, through the use of vague diction and ambiguous references, he of the online community in question states that “This is a would satisfy those with an insatiable thirst for the apocalyptic, community of believing Christians who are considering the the harbingers of doom. His ‘gift’ to posterity, in particular to background of Barack Obama, who honestly hope they don’t numerous disturbed individuals who are quick to post their have to answer the question ‘Is Barack Obama the Antichrist?’ comments over the internet, or to online communities today, “25 Incredibly enough, after such an honestly laughable is immeasurable. It is interesting to note that, had the author opening, the community spokesperson, or perhaps simply one himself been alive for the 2008 North American presidential of the contributors, goes on to admit that “I have never read elections, Senator Obama might even have sent him a letter Nostradamus, but I have watched television shows about him of gratitude for inadvertently providing the former with a great and his prophecies. To be honest, I have never put much stock deal of free publicity! JOURNAL OF THE INSTITUTE OF TOURISM STUDIES ISSUE 4 december 2009 | 29

From Nostradamus’s cloudy predictions we glide into the familiar territory of science, the grotesque and the dynamics of human relationships that is Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. The word ‘familiar’ is so apposite here for the simple reason that very few tales have stood the test of time as much as Shelley’s tightly-woven myth of overreaching, the fickle nature of the human creator and progress gone sour. It is, however, my intention to focus on Shelley’s literary legacy here, rather than dwell on the workings of the much-analysed fable itself. Hailed by eminent feminist literary critics such as Ellen Moers27 for being one of the first authors to tackle the notion of the horrors of childbirth and motherhood28, Shelley’s Frankenstein was indeed ahead of its time in style, content, and by mere dint of the fact that a subject which betrayed a profound intellectual concern with ethics had been delved into by a very young woman, a mere girl. Its uncharacteristic depiction of intensity of emotion and violence was to be surpassed only by the extraordinary Wuthering Heights, published twenty-nine years later. But Frankenstein is also particularly remarkable for the fact that it set the stage within nineteenth-century literature for the crucial recurring theme, if not almost perennial preoccupation, of the monstrous. Be it in the figure of Heathcliff, who can be described as a twisted version of the Byronic hero, or immanent in such texts as The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The Picture of Dorian Grey, or George Eliot’s unusual dalliance with the uncanny in The Lifted Veil, the hideously unnatural seems to be an omnipresent element of much Victorian writing, especially the fiction of the last thirty years of the century. Of course, no writer succeeded in combining this Victorian fixation with the gruesome and the technology of the years to come as masterfully as H.G. Wells. The Time Machine, for instance, beautifully captures the partly didactic, partly celebratory spirit of the age which warns the novel’s reading public of the human tendency to misuse or be overwhelmed by technology, while simultaneously revelling in its wonders. The reader is taken on vicarious journeys filled with peril and, at certain points, anguish and despair, even if these are distanced from one by the mere temporal fact. Wells’s seminal novella is, however, also an intriguing allegory of the development of the working class during the time in which he was writing,

In Fritz Lang’s 1926 film Metropolis there is great play on opposites: up and down: black and white: owners and workers: Science Fiction and Gothic: tomorrow and yesterday. One of the central elements in the plot also entails a doubling: the human Maria, who is the protector of the worker’s children underground, is replaced for evil reasons by a robot, which has been made to look like her, and which viciously entices the workers to revolt. At the climax the fake Maria’s flesh burns off, to reveal the steel figure beneath, the archetype for robots and cyborgs for years to come 30 welcome IDEAS tourism culture heritage

which, then, could feel the very first stirrings of the ability to one which has been the subject of immense distrust and fear, recreate itself with the tools of mass education and progress especially due to the superficial treatment it has received in in terms of technical skills. The Time Machine can be said to the hands of the mass-producing entertainment hydra known predict a subversion in the order of captain and underling, the world over as Hollywood. Although the term had already overseer and subordinate, brought about precisely by the onset been in existence for thirty years31 when Donna Haraway’s of innovations in mechanical technology. It may, of course, work on the subject was published, her essay32 was the defining be possible to interpret Wells’s fictional outpourings as mostly text which most studies situated within the interdisciplinary proclamations of progress, replete with an idealistic sense of fields of medicine/science/ technology and the humanities satisfaction at the pace of the advancement, but I believe referred to. Perhaps it can be said that Haraway popularised that this would be somewhat reductive. As has been hinted the term in that she made it the point of departure for her above, Wells’s writing tackles the shortcomings of brilliantly speculations on the relationships forged between science hatched scientific plans, and the frequent lack of success that and the genders. In A Cyborg Manifesto Haraway utilises the these are met with when they come up against sometimes very figure of the cyborg in an extremely novel manner, in that she simplistic obstacles. This is illustrated very potently by the imagines the cyborg occupying a position in which it replaces fact that the seemingly insurmountable Martians of Wells’s the traditional notion of the sexes, and the division between War of the Worlds are annihilated by the common cold, a them, especially when it comes to technology. If nothing else, complaint which mere humans successfully battle, sometimes this is certainly an innovative way of proclaiming the advent several times a year! Finally, Wells’s The Invisible Man, of a previously unexamined concept of personhood, without published three years before the inception of the twentieth resorting to generic sexism, or even heterosexism.33 century, is probably Frankenstein’s most direct descendant, Haraway’s A Cyborg Manifesto takes this idea of the if a rather farcical version of the original monster tale, not cyborg to its logical conclusion as far as a more idealistic least because of its emulation of Shelley’s distinct narrative meeting-ground between the uses of technology and the strategy. In The Invisible Man, Griffin’s retelling of events is genders is concerned. In positing a cyborg as the ideal ensconced within the central chapters, just as we find with Frankenstein’s relation of the story. Chris Baldick underlines Wells’s indebtedness to Shelley by quoting an observation to this effect made by noted scholar Bernard Bergonzi: “ ‘Griffin is not only Wells’s last version of the romantic scientist of the Frankenstein type, but also his most fully realised.’ “29 Wells’s writing can, indeed, be appreciated today for its sensitive tackling of subjects which were, in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, both avant-garde forays into science and technology and eloquent socialist depictions of ideal societies. His readership at the time must have viewed Wells’s work as at once enthralling and, perhaps, ominous. It is, however, perhaps even more intriguing for us to acknowledge the astounding importance of Wells’s fiction using the twenty-first century yardstick, which has more than become accustomed to the infiltration of technology in almost every aspect of quotidian life, just as it has grappled with the notion of posthumanism.The latter not only refers to an increased reliance on technology, and, in particular, computers, but, more significantly, an attitude or a state of mind in which the human and the technological not only complement each other but, eventually, as some scholarly writings infer, become almost mutually exclusive30. A consideration of posthumanism, however brief this may be, cannot but dwell upon the precursor of this movement. It is precisely here that we encounter the figure of the cyborg, The cover by Frank R. Paul (1927) was one of the more striking representations of H.G.Wells’ The War of the Worlds JOURNAL OF THE INSTITUTE OF TOURISM STUDIES ISSUE 4 december 2009 | 31

symbol of personhood, Haraway gives voice to a concept fact that one cannot just be pinned down and explained away which eradicates the notion of absolute subjectivity being or defined as a single idea, or mode of existence.36 something at the cost of forsaking or not being something else. Haraway’s work is particularly utopian also for its insistence With its fusion of the human and the machine, the cyborg on the necessity of incorporating women into the world of hints towards a future self/person which is plural, diverse, science and technology. She articulates the fact that the world multifaceted and progressive, the latter of course especially of science has hitherto been a space from which women have given the fact that the idea is partly rooted in science and been excluded from, alluding to the sad fact of the relative technology. In this sense, of course, Haraway perfectly captures illiteracy of science in women – one which, it must be said, the spirit of political correctness insofar as the latter embodies has unfortunately been all too well felt within the local sphere, the ideology of embracing diversity. Indeed, as she herself although tentative steps have, in recent years, been taken to states, “the ubiquity and invisibility of cyborgs is precisely remedy this. I am, here, reflecting the personal experiences why…[they] are so deadly. They are hard to see politically as of close, slightly older, female acquaintances. The situation materially. They are about consciousness – or its simulation.”34 regarding this matter in the recent past was, indeed, a terrible The focus of the cyborg parable, she continues to say, perforce one, especially when – as these contacts of mine have stated politicises the issue of preconceived notions of the way science - females were actually discouraged, in their decisive school is received in an increasingly technological world: “my cyborg years, from taking up a specialisation in sciences, because of myth is about transgressed boundaries, potent fusions, and the ‘tough’ and ‘soulless’ career this may lead to! One wonders dangerous possibilities which progressive people might explore whether this was done in order to dissuade these women from as one part of needed political work.”35 More than anything, pursuing the type of career which is known to be relatively the adoption of the cyborg figure functions in a manner which lucrative, in that such a career might push ‘other things’ in a eradicates fear about the possibility of plurality of being, the woman’s life into the background.

Moleosophy: Physical objects revealing the pattern of fate: human character and destiny can be divined by moleosophy, the distribution of moles on the body or by bumps on the head, measured by an early 20th century ‘phrenometer’ 32 welcome IDEAS tourism culture heritage

Aside from articulating these concerns, one other intriguing feature of Haraway’s essay is that it appears to prefigure the appearance of the worldwide web – at one point, she speaks of favouring, for women, the picture of a cyborg which would seem to subscribe to “a network ideological image, suggesting the profusion of spaces and identities and the permeability of boundaries in the personal body and the body politic.”37 Rather remarkable, when one remembers that this work was published two years before the internet was truly launched to a mass audience, which event took place in 1993. The journey traced by this article from fourteenth-century mystics to considerations of cyborgs might seem to have been a multifaceted and, at times, bizarre and wondrous one. One thing which all these authors have most certainly shared, though, is their curiosity about their own times, a sharp and incisive vision and a clear insight into the human mind, be it couched in religious language or futuristic jargon. Oftentimes, we tend to shut ourselves off from the ground-breakingly innovative simply due to the trepidation which the future, ways of the future, and, by extension, mutability bring with them. Not so the writers enumerated above, who clearly embraced all of this. W

Bibliography Butler, Judith. Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity (New York: Alvilda Petroff, Elizabeth. Medieval Women’s Visionary Literature (Oxford: Oxford University Routledge, 1990). Press, 1986). Callus, Ivan & Herbrechter, Stefan. ‘What’s Wrong With Posthumanism?’, Rhizomes Fall Armitt, Lucie. Contemporary Women’s Fiction and the Fantastic (Basingstoke: Macmillan 2003, No. 7, http://www.rhizomes.net/issue7/callus.htm Press, 2000). De Nostradame, Michel. Prophecies, taken from http://www.astrology-online.com/ Baldick, Chris. In Frankenstein’s Shadow: Myth, Monstrosity, and Nineteenth-Century Writing nostradamus.centuries-txt. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1987). Graham, Elaine L. Representations of the Post/human: Monsters, Aliens, and Others in Popular Ball, Philip. The Devil’s Doctor: Paracelsus and the World of Renaissance Magic and Science Culture (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2002). (London: Arrow Books, 2007). JOURNAL OF THE INSTITUTE OF TOURISM STUDIES ISSUE 4 december 2009 | 33

Halberstam, Judith & Livingston, Ira. ‘Introduction: Posthuman Bodies’, in Halberstam, Kristeva, Julia. ‘Stabat Mater’, in Tales of Love, trans. by Leon S. Roudiez (New York: Judith & Livingston, Ira, eds., Posthuman Bodies (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, Columbia University Press, 1987), pp. 234-263. 2000), pp. 1-19. Lykke, Nina & Braidotti, Rosi, eds. Between Monsters, Goddesses and Cyborgs: Feminist Haraway, Donna. ‘A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology, and Socialist-Feminism in Confrontations With Science, Medicine and Cyberspace (London: Zed Books, 1996). the Late Twentieth Century’, in Simians, Cyborgs and Women: The Reinvention of Nature Moers, Ellen. Literary Women: The Great Writers (New York: Doubleday & Company, 1976). (New York: Routledge, 1991), pp. 149-181. Pope, Alexander. The Dunciad (London: Kessinger Publishing, 2004). Haraway, Donna. Modest_Witness@Second_Millennium.FemaleMan©_Meets_OncoMouse™: Feminism and TechnoScience (New York: Routledge, 1997). Tillotson, Marcia. ‘ “A Forced Solitude” ’: Mary Shelley and the Creation of Frankenstein’s Monster’, in Fleenor, Juliann, ed., The Female Gothic (Montréal: Eden Press, 1983). Julian of Norwich. Revelations of Divine Love, ed. by Spearing, Elizabeth (London: Penguin Books, 2003). Toynbee, Paget & Hollander, Robert, intro. Dante Alighieri: His Life and Works (London: Dover Books: 2005).

Endnotes 22. Ibid 1. See http://www.whatsontv.co.uk/reality/the-x-factor/news/wallace-gromit-most-watched- 23. Ibid tv-show-of-2008/4850.html 24. This increased reliance on technology has led to the coining of the term “posthuman” Of course, this is not to say that all the programmes included in the abovementioned and “posthumanism”, in order to describe the start, and, eventually, peak of a new era list are without cultural merit, merely that the indicated pattern of television seems to which has opened up extremely exciting possibilities for as widely varying fields as provide the winning formula for much of today’s programmes. Interestingly enough, a medicine and education. However, the full implications of this notion will not be dealt comparison of this list with one enumerated by the Telegraph’s online publication of the with at this point in the article, in that they tie up neatly with the substance of the 10 best programmes displays a relative departure from the average reality blueprint – even article’s forthcoming section. if the show crowned with the number one spot conforms to this style, a good number of 25. See http://obamaantichrist.blogspot.com/2008/02/is-barack-obama-mabus-predicted-by. the other items included here comprise documentaries, costume and courtroom dramas html for more details. and even a humorous and ingeniously postmodernistic self-reflexive programme with the 26. Ibid unlikely title of Harry Hill’s TV Burp. For the Telegraph article, see http://www.telegraph. 27. Moers is well-known in the realm of Women’s Studies, both for her seminal work on co.uk/culture/tvandradio/384824/Top-10-TV-shows-of-2008.html. women writers spanning the late eighteenth to the twentieth centuries and for having 2. Alexander Pope, The Dunciad, 2004, Book 4, p. 37, 21-24. coined the term “female gothic”, referring to a specific tradition of gothic writing 3. Julian of Norwich, Revelations of Divine Love, ed. by Elizabeth Spearing, 2003, The penned by women. The latter are present in her most celebrated title, Literary Women, Second Revelation, Chapter X, p. 52. which was published in 1976. 4. We are, in fact, told that humans are “soul and body, clad in the Goodness of God, and 28. Moers referred to the novel as a “birth myth” – Literary Women, 1976, p.98. enclosed.” 29. Bernard Bergonzi, The Early H.G. Wells: A Study of the Scientific Romances, 1961, p. 120, Julian of Norwich, Revelations of Divine Love, ed. by Elizabeth Spearing, 2003, The First in Chris Baldick, In Frankenstein’s Shadow: Myth, Monstrosity, and Nineteenth-Century Revelation, Chapter VI, p. 32. Writing, 1990, p.162. 5. The comparison here may seem somewhat far-fetched, since La Divina Commedia is 30. See, for example, Elaine L. Graham, Representations of the Post/human: Monsters, Aliens, distant from Julian of Norwich’s writings both in terms of epoch – he preceded her by and Others in Popular Culture, 2002, and Posthuman Bodies, ed. by Judith Halberstam more than a century – and its style, which is rooted in a very specific literary tradition. and Ira Livingston, 2000. For the ultimate immersion into posthumanism, though, N. Dante’s dolce stil nuovo takes as its starting point the format for much of the religious Katherine Hayles’s How We Became Posthuman: Virtual Bodies in Cybernetics, Literature, and love poetry of the time, but transforms it to the extent that love is portrayed as a and Informatics, 1999, is, without a shadow of doubt, obligatory reading. Hayles’s positive, liberating force, rather than the seat of madness or folly. Even though Dante’s work continues to be mentioned in the same breath as posthumanism, largely due most celebrated work was, during the time it was published, condemned as extremely to her daring take on Hans Moravec’s theories of human identity, and the proposal scandalous because of the immense, godly power that Dante’s passion for his lady love has that technology was progressing to an extent where it might soon become possible to in its transformative ability, the portrayal of Beatrice tends to conform to ideals of courtly download one’s consciousness into a computer. Moravec proceeded to cite a setting in love of the day. In the Purgatorio the reader’s attention to the overwhelming nature which, in principle, this was already feasible. For Hayles, this was the perfect starting of Beatrice’s beauty is drawn several times; however, her pulchritude is of the radiant, point for the announcement and subsequent discussion of the posthuman condition, one celestial form. Ultimately, the crucial aspect of Dante’s love for Beatrice is its redemptive which, according to Halberstam and Livingston, announces the arrival of “a world in quality. which humans are mixtures of machine and organism, where nature has been modified 6. Julian of Norwich, Revelations of Divine Love, ed. by Elizabeth Spearing, 2003, The First (enculturated) by technologies, which in turn have become assimilated into ‘nature’ as Revelation, Chapter VII, p. 34. a functioning component of organic bodies.” ‘Introduction: Posthuman Bodies’, pp. 1-19 7. Ibid., The Thirteenth Revelation, Chapter XXVII, p. 108. in Posthuman Bodies, 2000, p.2 8. Ibid. 31. Haraway herself records the initial use of the word in a study on feminism and advanced 9. Ibid. science which was published six years after the text we shall be referring to: “The term 10. The idea that the body was principally governed by four components – black bile, yellow cyborg was coined by Manfred Clynes and Nathan Kline (1960) to refer to the enhanced bile, phlegm and blood – had been espoused since the writings of Hippocrates, who died man who could survive in extraterrestrial environments. They imagined the cyborgian around 370 B.C.E. Indeed, this theory still had numerous loyal adherents in Paracelsus’ man-machine hybrid would be needed in the next great technohumanist challenge time. The concept, which focussed on the proper functioning of the human body, – space flight…”, M.E. Clynes and N.S. Kline, ‘Cyborgs and Space’, Astronautics, centred on the supposed fact that any imbalance of the abovementioned characteristics Sept 26-27, 1960. Cited in Donna Haraway, Modest_Witness@Second_Millennium. would cause a change in the body’s behaviour, as well as one’s personality, or humour FemaleMan©_Meets_OncoMouse™: Feminism and TechnoScience, 1997, p. 51. Moreover, (hence the name given to this theory.) Hippocrates had underlined the fact that the four a consultation of the ubiquitous online encyclopaedia, http://www.wikipedia.org/ , tells humours were based upon the four classical elements, earth, fire, water and air, and each us that D. S. Halacy’s Cyborg: Evolution of the Superman in 1965 featured an introduction of these were present in the four bodily constituents: for example, earth was the main which spoke of a “new frontier” that was “not merely space, but more profoundly the feature of the black bile, fire was to be mainly found in the yellow bile, the phlegm was relationship between ‘inner space’ to ‘outer space’ -a bridge...between mind and matter.’” mostly composed of water while the blood encompassed all four elements. From this, as D. S. Halacy, Cyborg: Evolution of the Superman 1965, p7, in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ noted above, one could speak of those who were characterised by an excess of the yellow Cyborg bile as choleric, or irascible, those in whom black bile dominated as melancholic, or 32. Donna Haraway, ‘A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology, and Socialist-Feminism in depressive, the phlegmatic ones as over-calm, with a distinct lack of emotion, and the the Late Twentieth Century’ in Simians, Cyborgs and Women: The Reinvention of Nature, sanguine individuals as lascivious. Consequently, once the nature of their dominating 1991, pp. 149-181. humour or imbalance was identified, individuals would develop diseases relating to the 33. The term “heterosexism” refers to a situation in which the only really acceptable model corresponding body part or characteristic. The sanguine would often be prey to venereal of sexuality in society refers to that concerning relationships and family structures diseases or else excess-related illnesses, such as cirrhosis, and the phlegmatic would be constructed between persons of the opposite sex. While not exactly the same thing as susceptible to respiratory tract or brain inflammations, whereas the choleric might suffer homophobia, heterosexism places persons of a heterosexual disposition in privileged from stress or gall bladder infections. Finally, those having experienced an imbalance of positions in society, whilst other lifestyles have to make do with arenas that are the black bile might very well be the victims of insomnia or diseases of the spleen. deemed more suitable for them. Part of Haraway’s argument centres around the fact 11. Philip Ball, The Devil’s Doctor: Paracelsus and the World of Renaissance Magic, 2007, p. 23. that women, together with other even more ‘marginalised’ members of contemporary 12. Ben Bezalel, one of most important figures in the history of Judaism in Europe, was society, including persons exhibiting non-traditional forms of sexuality and even ethnic depicted as having modelled a golem in order to defend his people from prejudice and minorities, have often been kept away from science and technology, with the excuse discrimination in late sixteenth-century Prague. This version of the tale was penned by that these individuals exhibit non-rational traits which render them unsuitable for German-Jewish author Berthold Auerbach, and featured in his 1837 novel Spinoza. training in these sectors. 13. See, for example, http://vijaykumar.com/nostradamus_predictions.html, http:// 34. Donna Haraway, ‘A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology, and Socialist-Feminism in nostradamus2012.com/ and http://hogueprophecy.com/prophecy/nostradamus.htm. the Late Twentieth Century’ in Simians, Cyborgs and Women: The Reinvention of Nature, 14. See http://urbanlegends.about.com/cs/historical/a/nostradamus.htm 1991, pp. 149-181, p. 150. 15. Ibid 35. Ibid., p.151. 16. Michel de Nostradame, Prophecies, Century VI, quatrain 97, taken from http://www. 36. This idea has already been in existence for more than thirty years, in particular in astrology-online.com/nostradamus.centuries-txt. certain brands of gender studies: see, for instance, Julia Kristeva’s Revolution in Poetic 17. Ibid Language and Desire in Language: A Semiotic Approach to Literature and Art, both 18. Ibid, Century II, quatrain 62. published in the later part of the 1960’s. Also worth consulting are Luce Irigaray’s 19. All the quotes taken from this section of the article have been lifted from the following Speculum of the Other Woman (1974) and This Sex Which Is Not One (1977). link: http://www.topix.com/forum/indy/TBN4GIVBQRP27FN9O 37. Donna Haraway, ‘A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology, and Socialist-Feminism in 20. Ibid the Late Twentieth Century’ in Simians, Cyborgs and Women: The Reinvention of Nature, 21. Ibid 1991, pp. 149-181, p. 178. 34 welcome IDEAS tourism culture heritage

CENTRE FOR THE FUTURE INSTITUTE OF TOURISM STUDIES ITS Launches MALTA new Centre for Future Studies The Centre for the Future is interested in how social, scientific and technological developments are shaping the future

he world changes so quickly it’s hard to keep up. But by considering what might happen, people can more TNew inventions and innovations alter the way we rationally decide on the sort of future that would be most live. People’s values, attitudes, and beliefs are changing. And desirable and then work to achieve it. Opportunity as well as the pace of change keeps accelerating, making it difficult danger lies ahead, so people need to make farsighted decisions. to prepare for tomorrow. By studying the future, people The process of change is inevitable; it’s up to everyone to can better anticipate what lies ahead. More importantly, make sure that the change is constructive. they can actively decide how they will live in the future, by The Centre for the Future strives to serve as a neutral making choices today and realizing the consequences of their clearinghouse for ideas about the future. Ideas about the future decisions. include forecasts, recommendations, and alternative scenarios. The future doesn’t just happen: People create it through These ideas help people to anticipate what may happen in the their action - or inaction - today. next 5, 10, or more years ahead. When people can visualize a No one knows exactly what will happen in the future. better future, then they can begin to create it. JOURNAL OF THE INSTITUTE OF TOURISM STUDIES ISSUE 4 december 2009 | 35

Objectives • To contribute to a reasoned awareness of the future and the importance of its study. • To advance serious and responsible investigation of the future. • To promote the development of methods for the study of the future. • To increase public understanding of future-oriented studies. • To facilitate communication and cooperation among organizations and individuals interested in studying or planning for the future.

Activities • Meetings: Monthly or bi-monthly meetings with programs. Networking meetings, where members meet with each other without a formal program. Functions • Field trips: trips to local facilities of interest, such as • Persons interested in Future Studies and Foresight Tools museums, exhibits, animal reserves, observatories, etc. can meet each other face-to-face or electronically and • Conferences: Usually one- or two-day affairs, inviting discuss the issues that concern them. local speakers, and from around the world to discuss topics • Local experts can be identified and their expertise shared of interest to the local area. with people in the locality. • Speeches: Members can give presentations to local • A knowledgeable person can make a presentation before organizations and schools in order to “spread the word” people in the community who are interested in what he or about futures-oriented topics. she may have to say. • Newsletters: Printed or electronic newsletters on a regular • Government officials, business leaders, educators, and basis to keep members informed of upcoming activities others in the local area can become acquainted with and to publicize events. foresight tools and the general field of futures studies.

Anyone wishing to become an Associate of the Centre for the Future may write to: Ms. Elaine Jones Centre for the Future, Institute of Tourism Studies St. George’s Bay, St. Julians PBK 1553, Malta

Email: [email protected] 36 welcome IDEAS tourism culture heritage

Competing with the Capitals of Art through Innovative incoming tourism Product Development Foresight – 1-5 May 2010

The Institute of Tourism Studies (Malta) will be organising this short professional development course on 1-5 May 2010

This course is intended for Policy makers and Strategy developers in Tourism, Product developers in incoming Cultural Tourism, Marketing professionals in tourism services and Trainers of future generation Tourism professionals.

A ‘proactive’ course on the future of the Art Cities

Proactive because : 1. The course looks into the future and tries to shape the future, 2. The audience does not only sit and listen, but participates in the discussions, 3. The course ends with some concrete policy and strategy recommendations.

Trainers and Operators forming part of the target group for which the course is intended can apply for funding under the EU’s Grundtvig funding programme. Request information about your eligibility from your Grundtvig National Agency. Ref : IT-2010-512-001

For other information contact Mr. Ray Vassallo or Ms. Elaine Jones Centre for the Future Institute of Tourism Studies Tel: +356 2379 3274, +356 2137 2419, Fax: +356 2137 5472 Email: [email protected] or [email protected] JOURNAL OF THE INSTITUTE OF TOURISM STUDIES ISSUE 4 december 2009 | 37

Competing with the Capitals of Art through Innovative incoming tourism Product Development Foresight – 1-5 May 2010

Training content will be delivered by Professor Ozcan Saritas from the University of Manchester Business School Programme of Training

Day 1 DAY 4 10:30 - 12:30 Foresight Training 09:30 - 10:15 Presentation 10:30 - 11:00 Introduction to Foresight Translating Foresight into policies and 11:00 - 11:10 Q&A session strategies: Roadmapping method and its 11:15 - 11:30 Coffee break application to the tourism sector 11:30 - 12:15 Foresight methodology and commonly 10:15 - 10:30 Q&A session used methods 10:30 - 11:00 Coffee break 12:15 - 12:30 Q&A session 11:00 - 12:30 Workshop: Break-out groups 12:30 - 13:30 Lunch Policies and strategies for the cultural 13:30 onwards Presentations of pre course projects tourism sector 12:30 - 13:30 Lunch DAY 2 Workshop : Valletta as a case in point. 09:30 - 10:15 Presentation Revisiting the cultural tourism product “Global Big Picture: Mega-trends, offered by a town like Valletta. drivers, key uncertainties, weak signals and wild cards likely to affect the future Day 5 of the tourism sector” 09:30 - 10:15 Presentation 10:15 - 10:30 Q&A session Break-out groups present their work 10:30 - 11:00 Coffee break 10:15 - 10:30 Q&A and feedback session 11:00 - 12:30 Workshop: Break-out groups 10:30 - 11:00 Coffee break Brainstorming workshop for the 11:00 onwards Conclusion and preparation of template implications of trends, drivers and for post course projects uncertainties on cultural tourism 12:30 - 13:30 Lunch Cost of Participation 17:00 - 18:30 Meeting with a local history of art expert Early Bird - Registrations before January 2010: €400* and tour of Valletta with focus on its link Incentive for local participants: to artists of international renown 40% off normal Participation fee € DAY 3 Normal Participation fee: 750* 09:30 - 10:15 Presentation MHRA members: €300 Scenario method and future scenarios Group Registration Discounts depend on the number for the tourism sector from Europe and of participants coming from the same institution around the world * including lunch every day at the Pembroke Suite 10:15 - 10:30 Q&A session 10:30 - 11:00 Coffee break 11:00 - 12:30 Workshop: Break-out groups Scenario workshop for the future of

cultural tourism and services to be CENTRE FOR THE FUTURE INSTITUTE OF TOURISM STUDIES MALTA provided 12:30 - 13:30 Lunch Cultural Excursion to Valletta as a city of artists 38 welcome IDEAS tourism culture heritage Dynamics

of the Apocalypse Averting a future of doom for Tourism

The signs are all here! DAVID PACE Tourism figures are plummeting as we continue losing our David Pace is a Lecturer in Tourism Sustainability and Food Science at the Institute of Tourism Studies. He has been involved with the environmental competitiveness. Alternative energy use is the lowest of all lobby since 1986 and is particularly interested in the development of EU countries, while emissions are the highest and natural alternative forms of tourism in Malta. He is also a qualified Laboratory fresh-water reserves will be gone in fifteen years time!(1) Scientist and a journalist specialising in science popularisation.

lthough climate change is one of the greatest low-lying areas, while greater amounts of carbon dioxide Achallenges we face, the unsustainable use of our dissolving in water will make the aquatic environment more resources backed by the inherent inability of politicians to take acidic, leading to a catastrophic impact on pH-sensitive courageous decisions will begin to take its toll much earlier shelled animals and coral reefs. than ever imagined. If for once, politicians practise what they Whether global warming is a natural episode in our preach, Malta would be in a much better position to face such planet’s long history or a man-made event that interferes with challenges. Instead, our leaders pay lip service to sustainability the Earth’s inbuilt homoeostatic processes that keep the entire almost every day without lifting a finger to do anything about it. biosphere in check, climate change is here to stay, and certain countries are at a greater risk than others. Unfortunately, The coming of Climate Change Malta is one of these. It is totally dependent on offshore fuel Current predictions indicate that during the next twenty sources and is at the bottom of the list of EU countries which years, temperatures will continue to rise, leading to hot, use alternative energy; moreover its single biggest economic scorching summers and dry, warm winters. Weather patterns sector is tourism and it has water shortage problems. Multiply and ocean currents will also change, leading to less rainfall all this with the fact that for thirty years nothing has been and a decrease in seawater mixing, resulting in a reduction done to solve these problems and the future becomes bleak in marine biodiversity. The melting of polar ice and the indeed as all these factors in one form or another will be expansion of water will raise the level of water, submerging aggravated by climate change. JOURNAL OF THE INSTITUTE OF TOURISM STUDIES ISSUE 4 december 2009 | 39

A more detailed description of problems facing small The key findings state that by the end of the century, islands can be found in the IPCC Special Reports on Climate temperatures will rise between 1.1oC and 5oC. Effects will Change(2): “Tourism is the dominant economic sector in a number include a reduction in summer peak tourism, an increase in of small island states in the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific and heat waves and the subsequent adverse health effects; sea level Indian Oceans. In 1995, tourism accounted for 69%, 53%, and rise leading to loss of low-lying coastal zones, rising summer 50% of gross national product (GNP) in Antigua, the Bahamas, electricity use (for cooling) and increased energy costs and and the Maldives, respectively. This sector also earns considerable reductions in summer soil moisture, crop yields and water foreign exchange for a number of small island states, many of which availability. The latter will lead to unsustainable competition are heavily dependent on imported food, fuel, and a range of other for water with tourism and households. All will have severe vital goods and services. Foreign exchange earnings from tourism negative impacts on ecosystems. also provided more than 50% of total revenues for some countries The number of scientists arguing that a 5oC increase up to in 1995. Climate change and sea-level rise would affect tourism 2100 is too conservative an estimate is growing. New evidence directly and indirectly: Loss of beaches to erosion and inundation, presented by Professor Peter Cox of the Hadley Centre suggest salinization of freshwater aquifers, increasing stress on coastal “a temperature rise of 4°C by 2040 could well be on the cards”.(4) ecosystems, damage to infrastructure from tropical and extra- Whatever the increase, the greatest challenge to tourism tropical storms, and an overall loss of amenities would jeopardize the in Malta will come from an indirect effect of climate change. viability and threaten the long-term sustainability of this important Currently, most of our tourists hail from Great Britain and industry in many small islands.” Germany. In the next thirty years, such tourists will prefer to Although the above describes Caribbean islands, Malta travel to less torrid areas within their own country rather than shares many of the same problems as was quantitatively proven flying to Malta, which will become intolerably hot during the by the Impacts of Europe’s changing climate - 2008 indicator- summer. Added to this, air transport will probably become too based assessment in which Malta was described as having failed expensive due to increases in fuel prices and so, British and to prepare a plan on its climate change impact, vulnerability and German tourists will choose automotive and maritime travel, adaptation - unlike other Mediterranean countries that have both of which are much easier to adapt to run on electricity prepared quite extensive climate change assessments(3). It also listed than aircraft. 40 key indicators and stresses that will affect the European and The Mediterranean will probably start to become off-limits Mediterranean regions, including increased risk of floods and to tourists during summer some-time beyond 2020. According droughts, losses of biodiversity, threats to human health and to Dr. Viner, senior research scientist at the University of damage to economic sectors such as energy, transport, forestry, East Anglia’s Climatic Research Unit and one of the leading agriculture, and tourism. researchers on climate change “the heat-wave across continental

During the next ten years, cruise-liners will get bigger and bigger. Powered by nuclear or clean energy sources, these floating cities will be able to recycle water and waste and leave little impact on the marine environment 40 welcome IDEAS tourism culture heritage

Europe in 2003 was a useful indication of the extent of climatic that if nothing was done Malta’s economy would not be sustainable changes expected in the future. We are already seeing things change within five years because it would have to pay dearly for its lack of quite radically. What we saw in 2003 we were not expecting to action”. (9) happen until 2050.” (5) Assuming Malta meets its EU targets by 2012, climate Dr Ute Collier, WWF head of climate change agrees: “The change repercussions will not vanish overnight and so the next tourism industry could be faced with huge costs as global warming logical step should be preparing for the negative effects on our begins to influence decisions about when and where people are going island. If according to Dr. Vintner, the Mediterranean will to go on holiday.” (6) start becoming off-limits to tourists by 2020, how can tourism This will lead to a significant drop in Maltese tourism be sustained in Malta? and change the yearly tourist pattern as the shoulder months become more attractive to visitors. This presents a golden Tourism in 2050: an optimist’s view opportunity to introduce winter tourism as a main Maltese The year is 2050, Malta and Gozo have weathered the attraction. Current economic trends show that even without climate crunch even though the overall temperature has climate change the long-term viability of the current Maltese increased by 4oC, most of the beaches lie under water and no tourist product is in doubt: “The long-term viability of the one in his right mind would be caught out in the open during tourism industry in Malta is a much more daunting challenge. We summer. need to move from the adoption of tactics that address the needs The answer to this bleak scenario would be a foresighted of particular sectors to the formulation and implementation of a and disciplined government, and intelligent and coherent strategy that first identifies the weaknesses in the product and then planning. defines an action plan to address these weaknesses.” (7) Finance The authorities would have started by taking a landmark Minister Tonio Fenech defined the weakness of our product decision in 2017 and implementing a massive subsidy project in monetary terms: ‘Tourism expenditure declined by 10.6% to similar to that of eight years before when energy saving lamps 187.8 million euro from 210.2 million euro last year.’(8) were distributed freely to most of the population. In this case, The Prime Minister was also very clear during the new low-cost photovoltaic cells were supplied for a nominal parliamentary discussion on the national strategy aimed at price to 50 000 households. The energy bill for Enemalta reducing emissions and on the 31st October 2009 “issued a stern dropped quickly as people started generating their own warning to those not seeing eye-to-eye with the government over electricity and selling the surplus to the local company over the measures needed to reduce CO2 emissions to EU levels, saying the National Grid. People finally stopped grumbling about

...even without climate change the long-term viability of the current Maltese tourist product is in doubt

In a few years time, thorium nuclear reactors will be on the market. They produce less radiation and so are must less dangerous to use. They also burn any waste produced solving the serious problem of nuclear waste JOURNAL OF THE INSTITUTE OF TOURISM STUDIES ISSUE 4 december 2009 | 41

the high price of electricity and power-station emissions also dropped substantially helping keep our country within the carbon footprint. A few years later, new clean Thorium(10) powered nuclear power-stations have become available commercially. Sicily has invested in one and suddenly, cheap electricity flowed through an underwater cable and Malta has finally become energy- sufficient. Unfortunately, oil is prohibitively expensive and so air transport is rare. Today, all forms of transport are based on electric motors or hydrogen fuel-cells(11). The Maltese transport system was reformed again in 2028 and three different services all running on sustainable energy sources were introduced. A year later, a super-tax on fossil fuelled private cars spelled their extinction except for a few enthusiasts who kept them as museum pieces. The oil-crunch killed off the automobile and most people started using one of the more efficient public transport systems or electric vehicles. Streets are cleaner and quieter as few people venture out during summer. Temperatures reach 45oC and even 50oC in Although sceptics still exists, the effects of climate change are all around us. summer, so most activities are indoor ones. Medical Tourism Just look what happened to the ice of Muir Glacier in Alaska had started to increase in the 2020s with the development of small, automated clinics and hospitals run by a small staff of The majority of tourists come to Malta in giant solar and multi-tasking professionals. Now, Malta is a centre of a new nuclear powered cruise ships(12) and catamarans in winter when form of summer tourism called “Residential Care Tourism” the temperature is warm enough for a swim in the remaining which mostly attracts the elderly. coastal areas. Intelligent marketing was needed to implement such All hotels are green hotels and use technology burrowed a change. This was the direct result of a massive reform in from Controlled (or Closed) Ecological Life Support the Malta Tourism Authority which placed the reigns of Systems(13) developed for long-duration spaceflight by authority in the hands of marketing specialists and research the ESA(European Space Agency) and NASA(National professionals. New forms of tourism such as Medical and Aeronautics and Space Administration). This has allowed Residential Care types became attractive as the elderly now hotels to become practically self-sufficient in their energy compose almost half the working population of Europe and and water needs. Land reclamation and wastewater treatment although they tend to avoid “hot” Mediterranean destinations, produce freshwater, and the resulting nutrients are used in the marketing of Malta as a high-tech oasis of Elderly Health automated agricultural practices that supply these hotels with Care and Hospitality in the Mediterranean coupled with fresh produce and livestock. very competitive rates has made it a particularly attractive Larger hotels have invested in tissue culture and advanced destination. hydroponic techniques using mineral extracted from sea-water The meteoric rise of Medical Tourism saw its birth in by means of nanotechnological sieves(14) and land-reclamation the Housing Crunch of 2015 as small clinics acquired large projects utilising carbon sequestration techniques to build new properties cheaply from Banks and started to expand their limestone landmass(15). operations. The unsustainability of the National Health Care Solving the energy problem has meant solving the water provided a helping hand. problem. The EU edict which ordered all member countries Most of the properties were converted into high-tech to plant 1,000,000 trees on every 100 Km2 of wasteland to clinics and health care centres powered by a high degree of sequester carbon dioxide from the atmosphere has made Malta automation and state-of-the-art virtual reality diagnostic tools, much greener, especially in the north where Buskett Forest has robotic medical instruments and nanotech medicines supplied been expanded and rural tourism has spread throughout the and serviced by new and mostly automated factories in the area that encompasses Dingli, Rabat and Si©©iewi. Mosta Technopark and Smart City. As our society has become older and more controlled, a 42 welcome IDEAS tourism culture heritage

Quality Improvement

Tanti & Mallia Quality Consultants Ltd

is a company which offers assistance for the improvement of quality, whether as a service or as a product. To support this, the company has opened its own testing and development laboratory . The lab can do all the analysis that is related to food, water (drinking , swimming pool, cooling towers, production plants) and environmental issues (effluents, drains, air etc). In short, a complete package.

The company also uses the laboratory to give hands on training and to develop the skills of the workers in terms of hygiene. Courses are available in food handling, HACCP, cleaning where the course is more focused on the training (hands-on and inter activity) rather then the just lectures. The lab is used to continually monitor the workers.

The Company also offers design of food production areas, HACCP (both implementation and certification), Quality certification, packaging and product development, risk assessments for the hospitality industry. It also offers legal support in cases of litigation.

Finally the company is ISO 9001:2000 registered.

Tanti & Mallia Quality Consultants Ltd 2030 KBIC Kordin Industrial Estate, Kordin PLA 3000 Tel: 2398 0150 / 160 • Mobile: 9949 0254 • Fax: 2143 5411 • Email: [email protected] • www.tantiandmallia.com JOURNAL OF THE INSTITUTE OF TOURISM STUDIES ISSUE 4 december 2009 | 43

sunglasses and listening to mp3 players and becoming oblivious to the world around them. Cocooning has had a far-reaching effect on tourism with the growth of all-inclusive holidays promising everything from a virtual voyage to Mars to a fiery affair with a beautiful buxom bimbo in a make-believe fairyland all in the privacy of a VR Booth. Today, few tourists ask to travel beyond the bounds of their hotel or holiday complex. In summer it is just too hot, so they prefer to enjoy the internal wonders of the hotel. The use of robotics has also grown as the labour pool continues to shrink due to ageing populations all over

Desertification is one of the more extreme effects of climate change Europe and “robot waiters at cocktail bars, remote-controlled that may affect countries such as those in the Mediterranean camera-carrying guard dogs in hotel lobbies and self-cleaning hotel rooms”(16) are a reality. Admittedly this may sound like science fiction, but if Maltese tourism does not undergo a paradigm shift towards such developments, we will not be able to avert the Tourism Death Scenario!

Averting Tourism Death Malta, 2050! Most of the beaches are gone. Water shortages are common! Tourism is down by 80% and most are disaster tourists. The coast roads have disappeared and air-travel is reserved for the rich, the powerful and the politicians. The surrounding sea is barren. Over-fishing has destroyed many fish stocks most notably tuna, dolphin fish and swordfish. The warming waters have not helped, as currents have shifted and nutrients are being dumped into deeper waters, rendering the continental shelf barren. Lack of a strong coherent commitment towards our environmental obligations in controlling emissions and reducing the carbon footprint have resulted in a number of crippling fines that have continued the downward march of our island’s economy. Self-sufficient enclosed ecosystems derived from experimental technology used There is little doubt that climate change is the greatest on the International Space Station, the ESA Minerva Systems and the Biosphere II challenge our island will face in the next thirty years. Having a experiments will help make hotels of the future more self-sufficient GDP that depends very heavily on tourism makes the problem much more serious. new range of indoor tourism products has become available. “The Tourism Death” scenario is what we are currently Virtual Reality has come of age. Advances in computing moving towards if we do not adopt a nationwide effort towards power have increased immersive experiences to the extent making sustainability a tool of survival for the future rather that they are indistinguishable from reality. The elderly can than a political buzzword our leaders are so in love with. engage in high-energy pastimes such as sports without leaving Two very important factors will surely affect the outcome their residence and suffering any ill-health problems, while of this “Tourism Death Scenario”: lack of serious planning and the younger generation is retreating in its own personal political will. environment, a phenomenon that started way back called Lack of planning has always been a problem on this cocooning - the increasing tendency of the younger generation island. Since the British left us to our own devices, planning to blot out the worsening external environment by wearing has always been haphazard and mostly based on the spur of 44 welcome IDEAS tourism culture heritage

the moment. The impetus to develop tourism as our main An unsustainable transport system economic industry gained momentum in the late seventies The lack of solutions to many problems including and although the US and many Northern European countries transport, rampant construction, control of emissions, water were entering the Cautionary Phase(17) of tourism development sustainability and the introduction of clean alternative energy (where environmental problems were becoming serious enough sources have pushed the present administration into a dead- to affect the touristic product), in Malta we were still in the end. Advocacy Phase(18), just beginning to dabble in the industry, A case in point is the public transport issue that has been so everyone wanted to build a hotel and almost everyone going on for over 20 years. No less than 4 different ministers(21) got the permit(especially if they were friends with some promised reforms, some of which have materialised but never politician), notwithstanding the environmental impact of such really translated into improvements. The only constant has developments. Environmental planning and sustainability been an increase in tariffs. had no bearing on the Malta at this time. According to Dom Lack of reform in this sector has had a far-reaching effect Mintoff, the Prime Minister on the 1970’s and early 1980’s, on our country’s environment. For many years, old buses the only thing that mattered was providing jobs! powered by deadly mixtures of diesel and kerosene have been Tourism figures peaked in the late 1990’s(19). After 20 major polluters and the inefficiency of the system together years of rapid touristic development, environmental problems with the intransigence of bus drivers and their representatives were rearing their ugly heads and Malta was entering its own have resulted in many people buying private cars to the Cautionary Phase(20) which successive governments continued detriment of the environment. The incompetence and to ignore. inefficiency of the relevant authority exacerbated the problem. Only after the question of EU membership came up Although there is a current public transport reform did the government start to sell the idea of environmental going on that promises to introduce cleaner buses and a protection and conservation by promising better legislation more efficient system, there is little hope that the reform will and protection inherently dependent on adopting EU laws and actually make private car owners use it mostly due to recent standards. decreases in taxation on new cars and the fact that the service Although on paper, the standards have been adopted, few is not cheap enough to convince people to abandon the luxury environmental problems have been solved, the most notable of personal transport. being waste control and the introduction of recycling that led In the words of the Transport Minister, Dr.Austin Gatt: to the closure of the massive Mag˙tab rubbish dump. “Government subsidies to bus owners have been guaranteed so they

The increase in the use of robotics, virtual reality and nanotechnology will result in increasingly automated clinics overseen by a limited staff. Such clinics may be ideal for the development of advanced medical tourism in Malta JOURNAL OF THE INSTITUTE OF TOURISM STUDIES ISSUE 4 december 2009 | 45

with the authorities’ incapacity to control construction, improving cleanliness and repairing our terrible roads have a direct bearing on the happiness of tourists and is one of the main reasons why the number of repeat tourists has fallen. If left unattended, these problems will surely contribute greatly to the “Tourism Death Scenario”.

The control of emissions This is one of the most important environmental problems and has a direct bearing on international climate change legislation and more so, on the local environment. Prior to EU membership in 2004(26), the adoption of EU laws on emissions led to the curtailing of the use of coal as an energy source in our power-stations. The construction of a new power-station in 1990 at Delimara supposedly built When are we going to see buses powered by electricity or fuel cells on our island? to modern standards with the aim of replacing the ageing Marsa power-plant was meant to have a major impact on the control of emissions. This did not happen. In fact, it seemed did not need to try encouraging the use of public transport. The that Enemalta’s predictions(27) which showed that energy use number of bus passengers dropped from 78 million 20 years ago to would eventually increase beyond the capacity of the new 32 million in 2008.”(22) This actually shows how unattractive power-station were repeatedly ignored, possibly to curtail the the Maltese public transport has become as its use decreased by introduction of new tariffs on energy and water consumption 60% in 20 years leading to a massive increase in private cars that would effect the outcome of the 2008 general elections. and subsequent emissions. The use of alternative energy sources has had a very bumpy recent history. In the early nineties(28), the Nationalist Malta – a concrete island! Party predicted the generation of about 5% of all energy Another serious problem that surely has a bearing on the produced by alternative energy sources, namely solar-powered “Tourism Death Scenario” is rampant and uncontrollable systems, up till the year 2005. This was never realised and construction. It is interesting to note that rampant is one of the main reasons why our country lags behind all construction has actually increased rather than decreased the other EU countries in alternative energy use. This will with the setting-up of the so-called Malta Environment and Planning Authority (MEPA) in 2001, mostly due to the controversial decision taken by the Cabinet in May 2006 to increase the Outside Development Zone (ODZ) by 2.5% - a massive area the size of Si©©iewi! (23) This resulted in an explosion of development in some of the most beautiful and untouched areas of the island and has made the acronym MEPA synonymous with environmental destruction rather than its preservation. Today, this has led to the destruction of many environmentally sensitive areas and has caused untold damage to the local tourism product with visitors criticising Malta as one giant continuous construction zone. The effects of pollution from the construction industry and its machinery in the form of particulate, noise and visual forms has never been scientifically studied although many surveys by the Malta Hotels and Restaurant Association (MHRA)(24) and the Malta Tourism Authority (MTA)(25) have shown that they Carbon sequestration is the removal of carbon from the atmosphere. have had a negative impact on tourist arrivals. One of the most effective ways to do this is by planting trees. Special plants are being built by Siemens that are capable of fixing The continuous disregard of this important fact together carbon dioxide into the ground by removing it from the atmosphere 46 welcome IDEAS tourism culture heritage

result in our country missing energy targets set by the EU contamination by the construction industry have threatened and will eventually have a negative effect on Malta’s energy (and are still threatening) this precious resource to the extent sustainability. If this trend continues at the same time global that it will probably become too saline to use somewhere environmental problems such as climate change and oil around 2024(30)! Climate change will surely not help as 10 scarcity will have a direct bearing on our country’s touristic metres below the tunnels, there lies a layer of salt-water that competitivity, it will contribute greatly to the “Tourism Death will continue to rise with the gradual increase in sea-level. Scenario”. Recent studies show that the water level may probably rise The control of emissions is another important link and one metre by the year 2100(31). The problem with this figure does not only depend on developing and controlling the is that like all studies on climate change, it is probably a very inherently unsustainable transport sector, namely 300,000 conservative estimate. The fact that many farmers are already cars,(29) choking the over-loaded Maltese roads, and the energy finding salt-water in their boreholes seems to support this. inefficient and a polluting public transport system. It also Lack of rain in the Mediterranean is also making the depends on educating the public on how to conserve energy sea more saline and this will surely continue to affect water that in Malta seems to be done just by increasing the prices of extraction negatively. The Reverse osmosis helps by changing water and electricity. seawater into freshwater but is very energy intensive and so How much will the new transport reform help solve this increases the carbon footprint. problem is debatable considering that now most of the Maltese population has invested in a private car. There is no doubt this will have an impact on the “Tourism Death Scenario”, considering that the transport reform will not be effective in curtailing emissions from private cars, currently regarded as one of the more serious local environmental problems.

Water sustainability Water availability will also contribute directly to the “Tourism Death Scenario”. Half of Malta’s freshwater comes from an ingenious system of galleries 6.2 kms long dug by hand and finished in 1962. They lie almost a 100 metres underground and fill-up with freshwater that has percolated through the limestone layers. Although it has reliably supplied freshwater for over 45 years, the use of pesticides, borehole water extraction and

Virtual Reality will transform our lives and give rise to an effective alternative for tourism especially in countries characterised

Virtual Reality specs that enclose the wearer’s sense of sound and sight evolved directly from mp3s and dark glasses that are used to by ageing populations cocoon the wearer by blotting out the surrounding environment. The worse the environment becomes, the greater the cocoon effect! JOURNAL OF THE INSTITUTE OF TOURISM STUDIES ISSUE 4 december 2009 | 47

The answer lies in sustainably managing the water run- to find no water in the taps and no electricity in the switches off that transforms all low-lying roads into raging torrents. – sure ways of driving away tourists and making sure they tell Unfortunately, most of it is lost to the sea. Kerbs, gutters, catch their friends to stay clear of our island. basins and pavement inlets are almost non-existent on Maltese roads. Their purpose is to direct water flow away from the Alternative energy use roads into pipes leading to some sort of storm-water collection The inability of successive governments to invest anything facility. This could be built in one of the many massive disused in the alternative energy sector during the last twenty years quarries that dot the island to store and provide a source of will have serious repercussions on our future. This was second-class water that can either be upgraded by a water- bluntly explained in a comment on the “worldofrenewables” treatment process or used for irrigation. website: “In the share of renewable energies in the primary energy This problem may be partly solved by the National Storm consumption of the EU countries in 2006, Malta has placed at the Water Project funded by the very bottom of the league. Whilst EU Cohesion and Structural The abysmal results of Malta the European target is to reach 12 Funds 2007 – 2013 with the in the sector of renewable energy per cent by 2010, Malta has until objective to “manage water away consumption makes worrying reading now achieved a miserable 0.22 per from where it is a hazard to where cent. The European average stood they are short of it”. (32) at 6.92 per cent until 2006 and it is believed that this can reach With the increase in the price of oil, water production 10 per cent by 2010, falling short by 2 per cent on the official EU by reverse osmosis will become dearer and dearer and will target. continue to increase Malta’s carbon footprint. All this will “When assessing the share of renewable energies in gross affect tourism negatively, considering that tourists generally electricity consumption of EU countries in 2006, Malta once again use three times the volume of water Maltese residents use(33). touches rock bottom scoring zero per cent progress. The target A worst case scenario is one where tourists arrive in Malta for Malta is to reach 5 per cent by 2010, yet, there has been no

Although wind energy is the way to go particularly in lofty areas, wind farms are also limited and can only supplement a country’s energy supply 48 welcome IDEAS tourism culture heritage

progress in the field whatsoever. The European Average is just about 15 per cent and the target to reach by 2010 is 21 per cent.” “The abysmal results of Malta in the sector of renewable energy consumption makes worrying reading and exposes the Maltese government’s failure to even start thinking seriously of how to make use of alternative energies in Malta.” (34) Energy demand increases from year to year as more people purchase luxury appliances and new investment projects start to operate. “Electricity consumption is thus expected to increase from 2.26TWh in 2005 to 3.29TWh in 2020”(35) - an increase of about 70% that only factors in new developments such as Fort Cambridge, Midi and the SmartCity projects. As climate change gathers momentum and the temperature continues to climb, energy demands have to increase accordingly. The most important factor will be Nanites or nanorobots slightly bigger than molecules can do anything from clearing heavier use of air-conditioning equipment. After the 2025 an artery from plaque to sequestering carbon from gaseous carbon dioxide to salinisation of the water-table and freshwater galleries we will extracting minerals from the sea. In ten years’ time they will transform our society see a greater dependency on reverse osmosis water production, which is energy-intensive. The scarcity of oil will also start having an impact on fuels and substitutes will have to be found, namely electricity powered modes of transport that will Energy production problems are already here. The black- continue to put pressure on our insufficient energy generating out of the 16th June 2009 is proof enough. Raphael Vassallo, a capabilities and increase the carbon footprint. With the regular Maltatoday columnist put it succinctly when he wrote: current rate of progress in both non-renewable and renewable “Tuesday’s nationwide blackout had been predicted in an Enemalta energy generation, Malta is heading towards an impasse, report published in June 2006, but despite urgent recommendations characterized by frequent water and power cuts; and eventually to upgrade the Delimara power station before the end of 2008, tourism death, as prices stop being competitive, especially there has been no significant change to Malta’s total electricity when compared to other Mediterranean countries that will production capacity in the last three years. As a result, Malta now have invested in alternative energy sources. lacks the reserve capacity necessary to guarantee a stable electricity According to “bravenewclimate.com”: “2050 power demand supply.”(37) will be ~10 TWe of electrical generating power — a 5-fold increase Considering all these problems and the lack of a coherent on today’s levels….”(36) Such an increase will cripple our island’s national effort to solve them, the task of averting tourism economy if viable alternatives are not in force by that time. death seems to be a daunting one. W

Bibliography and notes 14. The Impactlab website: http://www.impactlab.com/2008/07/18/self-assembling-city-from- 1. Maltatoday, 1/11/09 the-sea-autopia-ampere/ 2. IPCC Special Reports on Climate Change - http://www.grida.no/publications/other/ 15. The Foresight Institute: Preparing for Nanotechnology. Nanotechnology: Clean Energy ipcc_sr/?src=/climate/ipcc/regional/513.htm and Resources for the future. Oct. 2002 by Dr. Stephen Gillette, pg. 46 – 61. 3. “Impacts of Europe’s changing climate - 2008 indicator-based assessment” & http://www. 16. The News Tourism website: http://www.news.com.au/travel/ eea.europa.eu/publications/eea_report_2008_4 story/0,28318,25941562-5014090,00.html 4, 5, 6. The BBC website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/tvradio/programmes/horizon/dimming_ 17, 18. Jafar Jafari’s model describes the emergence and development of sustainable trans.shtml & http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/431935.stm tourism and consists of four stages or platforms: Advocacy, Cautionary, Adaptancy and 7. The Times editorial, Thursday 5th March 2009, pg.9 Knowledge-based. 8. The Ministry of Finance: www.finance.gov.mt/image.aspx?site=MFIN&ref=2010. The Advocacy Stage first appeared in the post-war period (1950 – early 1960). In 9. The Times, Thursday, 1st October 2009, pg. 5 Malta. In the late 1960 and early 1970s. It was spurred by strong support for the industry 10. For more information on Thorium Nuclear Reactors access the following website for a and facilitated by the emergence of a strong middle-class that had time and money for detailed description of its feasibility and operation: http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/ travelling. Newly independent poor countries such as the Caribbean Islands, Cyprus and node/348/ Malta were cheap destinations that provided an inexhaustible supply of tourism resources 11. For more information on the promise of fuel cell technology read the following report on: including beaches, local culture and scenery. http://inventors.about.com/od/fstartinventions/a/Fuel_Cells.htm The Cautionary Stage appeared globally between the mid-1960s and the early 1970s 12. For more information on giant cruise ships look at: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/ triggered by the birth of the environmental movement. Jafari argues that during this showthread.php?t=417360 stage unregulated tourism development culminates in acceptably high environmental, 13. For more information on advanced ecological life support systems look at: http:// economic and socio-cultural costs for the destination. A major factor was the en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Controlled_Ecological_Life_Support_System intensification of tourism development over which enough time had passed for negative impacts to start to appear. JOURNAL OF THE INSTITUTE OF TOURISM STUDIES ISSUE 4 december 2009 | 49

19. Table of the total number of tourists from 1980 to 2000 supplied by Malta Central benefit from these areas are speculators – not the socially deprived that Dr Gonzi dreams about.” Office of Statistics. Saviour Balzan, MaltaToday 2.7.2006 24. MHRA surveys: www.mrra.gov.mt/.../INNOVA%20Pilot%20project%20Area%20paper. Period Total 1990...... 871,776 pdf “MHRA survey shows that 160,000 tourists criticize environment.” The Sunday 1980...... 728,732 1991...... 895,036 Times 26.10.2003 1981...... 705,506 1992...... 1,002,382 25. MTA survey: http://www.maltatourismauthority.com/uploads/1411/sliema.pdf. 1982...... 510,956 1993...... 1,063,213 26. “In April 1995 Enemalta stopped using coal as fuel for its generation….” 1983...... 490,812 1994...... 1,176,223 www.enemalta.com.mt/page.asp?p=968 1984...... 479,747 1995...... 1,115,971 27. “The Electricity Generation Plan 2006-2015 had predicted that, based on the expected growth 1985...... 517,864 1996...... 1,053,788 in demand (megawatts, MW) the reserve capacity available after the summer of 2007 would 1986...... 574,189 1997...... 1,111,161 be less than 60MW, which means that any loss due to a fault in one of the large units (MPS 1987...... 745,943 1998...... 1,182,240 boilers 7 & 8, DPS units 1& 2 or DPS CCGT plant) during the summer months will result in a 1988...... 783,846 1999...... 1,214,140 shortfall in generation capacity resulting in power outages possibly in large areas on the islands.” th 1989...... 828,311 2000...... 1,215,712 Maltatoday, Wednesday 19 August 2009 “Malta’s Energy Crises”. 28. Charles Iskander Yousif, co-Author of the Malta Chapter in the “Handbook of Renewable 20. See (14) and (16) Energies in the European Union II: Case Studies of all Accession States”, Danyel Reiche 21. Michael Frendo, Censu Galea, Jesmond Mugliett and Austin Gatt (Editor) and Foreward by the European Commissioner for Enlargement Mr. Gunter 22. The Malta Independent, “Bus passengers down by 46 million in two decades”, 17th October Verheugen, Peter Lang Publishers, June 2003, ISBN 3-631-51151-5. 2009 29. “Car Stock nears 300,000”, The Times of Malta, Friday, 24th July 2009. 23. “The latest online poll by The Times, asking whether changes to development zones would 30. Inginier Marco Cremona, Maltatoday 1/11/09 be in the national interest, has shown a majority being against, citing the level of construction 31. New Scientist, July 4 – 10th, issue 2715 & http://www.newscientist. com/article/ works, over-development and a lack of open space. Some of the 66.24 per cent of respondents mg20327151.300-sea-level-rise-its-worse-than-we-thought.html who were against the changes also felt that the adjustments were a matter of “speculation and 32. Malta Resources Authority website: http://www.mra.org.mt/water_directorate.shtml corruption””“ The Times 22.5.2006 (33) MaltaToday 12/04/09 “The Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association said yesterday that any extension of (34) The worldofrenewables website boundaries for further development would be detrimental to the tourism industry.” The Times (http://www.worldofrenewables.com/vbnews.php?do=viewarticle&artid=1309&title=malta-hits- 22.5.20 rock-bottom-in-renewable-energy-study) “Listening to the Prime Minister last Saturday, I felt uneasy and disturbed by his reference (35) Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Study, Malta National Study by Mr. George to the social dimension in the government’s plans to destroy more of Malta and Gozo. Dr Cassar & Mr. Anthony Sammut, Malta Resources Authority, March 2007, pg.13. Gonzi knows far too well that what he said is codswallop. There is no social dimension in (36) The Bravenewclimate website: http://bravenewclimate.com/2009/10/11/tcase3/ the new building zones but institutionalised stupidity. The vast majority of people who will (37) Maltatoday, 21st June 2009, pg12 + Enemalta Report June 2006 50 welcome IDEAS tourism culture heritage

martin debattista “Electronic robots, in one form or another, are Martin Debattista is an award winning freelance technology journalist and influencing our daily lives … are we due the Deputy Manager of the Centre for E-Learning Technologies at the for an “electronic revolution”? Institute of Tourism Studies. He is also the Deputy Editor of Welcome.

We did not find this question in our Twitter feed, on an online news website, or in our e-mail inbox.

Today we are immersed in the “electronic revolution”, but when Popular Electronics published the article in 1958, was it aware of what it was actually saying? Did the author pen the article soon after watching some sci-fi movie at the local cinema? Or was it a result of extended research on the latest developments in computing? JOURNAL OF THE INSTITUTE OF TOURISM STUDIES ISSUE 4 december 2009 | 51

umanity has striven to control the natural and However people who have their hands on the pulse of Hsocial environment through technology. From the things should know better and have a better knack at guessing basic hunting spear to atomic energy, man has invested a what’s next. History tells us that this has not been the case. huge amount of time trying to improve technology. Bigger On the contrary, the greatest misses were made by the same (or smaller), better, faster, was the mantra. The pace of people who strove to advance technology. advancement has accelerated over the last 200 years, first getting us into the Industrial Revolution and now into Far miss the Digital Revolution. What’s the next step? Where will “This ‘telephone’ has too many shortcomings to be technology take us? seriously considered as a means of communication. The device Here’s the problem. Man is very good at inventing new is inherently of no value to us,” was written in a Western things but history shows that he is very bad at predicting how Union internal memo in 1876. They got it a little wrong, of his inventions will impact his own life and his surroundings. course. And the farther away you get into the future, the more fancy Despite the advances brought by the Industrial and the less accurate the predictions turn out. Revolution, scepticism was prevalent in many areas of science and technology in the late 19th Century. Fact, fiction and fantasy “Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible,” Literature and cinema are perhaps the simplest approach at thought Lord Kelvin, mathematician and president of the portraying life in the future. From the gloomy Matrix and I am British Royal Society in 1895. legend, to the fantastic 2001: A Space Odyssey and Bladerunner Maybe comforted by Lord Kelvin’s words, Charles Duell, and the entertaining Back to the Future and Wall-E, science Commissioner of the US Patent Office, four years later fiction has worked overtime in painting mankind’s future, as reportedly claimed that “Everything that can be invented has bright or bleak as it may be. What Jules Verne depicted in his been invented.” Maybe he just wished to keep his office desk books, Hollywood sought to impress with sights and sounds. clean and tidy. According to Space 1999, released in 1975 just six years after man’s landing on earth’s satellite, we should have colonised the Moon by, obviously, 1999. Unfortunately we have not been on the moon for several years now. In Back to the Future (1989), in the year 2015 Marty Mcfly gets sacked by a fax from his boss. No e-mail or SMS were used, as we would probably do today. Internet had not reached our homes in 1989, so very few script- writers could have inserted it in a movie. While fiction is fully licensed to run wild on imagination, non-fiction has, many times, fallen into the trap of doing so. TV documentaries and countless print articles have all tried to predict how our planet will change for better or for worse. Sensationalism and the need to garner a larger readership or viewership had made the man-made apocalyptic scenario a favourite plot. Take for example the TV documentary Future Shock, produced by Ken Rosen and based on Alvin Toffler’s book. Toffler is one of the most read and respected futurists in the world. Yet he got most of it wrong. This 1972 production predicted gay marriages, which has become a reality. But it also predicted many other things that have not and maybe will not come true. It is available on YouTube, one technology not mentioned in the script. Pundits and critics, at an arm’s length from industry, have a free rein and write whatever they fancy. They are free to mix, starting from proven facts and wandering off into the unknown. Popular Science in 1961 predicted glass houses at affordable prices 52 welcome IDEAS tourism culture heritage JOURNAL OF THE INSTITUTE OF TOURISM STUDIES ISSUE 4 december 2009 | 53

And the Literary Digest in 1899 claimed that “The Nobel Prize in Physics, who in 1923 reassured that “There is ordinary ‘horseless carriage’ is at present a luxury for the no likelihood man can ever tap the power of the atom.” The wealthy; and although its price will probably fall in the future, Japanese and the owners of hundreds of millions of homes and it will never, of course, come into as common use as the building served by nuclear power stations surely beg to differ. bicycle.” Bicycles everywhere? Maybe in China but not in Next time you listen to your favourite music on the Western industrial countries. MP3 player or hi-fi at home remember that Thomas Edison, Our trust in the so-called “experts” could waver in the American inventor of the phonograph, believed that his face of such claims as the one made by Robert Millikan, music-making machine “has no commercial value at all.” In 1946 Darryl Zanuck, movie producer at 20th Century Fox, who delighted us with The Longest Day, Cleopatra and The King and I, sincerely believed that “Television won’t last because people will soon get tired of staring at a plywood box every night.” 30 years earlier Charles Chaplin, the king of the silent movies, said that “cinema is little more than a fad. It’s canned drama. What audiences really want to see is flesh and blood on the stage.” Back to our times, TV has become the most powerful of the mass media, and many more people go to the cinema than drama theatres. Even distinguished scientists can get it right in one place and wrong in another. Lee De Forest, American radio pioneer and inventor of the vacuum tube which made the first electronic computers possible, in 1926 claimed that “While theoretically and technically television may be feasible, commercially and financially it is an impossibility, a development of which we need waste little time dreaming.” Some of the predictions are made in veiled, sincere hope that these do not come true. Unfortunately some of them do, with terrible effect. When Hudson Maxim, the inventor of accessories for the machine gun invented by his brother Hiram, was asked in 1893 about whether his inventions will make the war more terrible, he replied “No, it will make war impossible.” A few years later, a similar notion was put forward. “The coming of the wireless era will make war impossible, because it will make war ridiculous,” claimed Guglielmo Marconi, inventor of the radio, in a 1912 article. Two years later the most terrible war up to that time had erupted in Europe, spreading around the world. And the machine gun was the most efficient killing machine of the First World War. One of the most famous quotes related to computers is attributed to Thomas J. Watson, the IBM chairman, who in the There is no likelihood mid 20th century allegedly claimed that “I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.” There is no hard evidence man can ever tap the he ever said that, but it still shows the lack of foresight. Moving nearer to our times, where the pace in power of the atom technological change accelerated with the invention of the microchip in the 1960s, we still get our fare share of predictions that went astray. 54 welcome IDEAS tourism culture heritage

Dennis Gabor, British physicist and author of Inventing the Advances in science and technology are usually made Future, in 1962 contended that “Transmission of documents despite the scepticism of influential people and of those who via telephone wires is possible in principle, but the apparatus have the money to support research and development. required is so expensive that it will never become a practical Steve Jobs, founder of Apple Computer Inc., explains what proposition.” happened when he and Steve Wozniak tried to distribute their In the age of the vacuum tubes, advancements were first computer in the late 1970s. nevertheless predicted. “Where a calculator on the ENIAC “So we went to Atari and said, ‘Hey, we’ve got this is equipped with 18,000 vacuum tubes and weighs 30 tons, amazing thing, even built with some of your parts, and what computers in the future may have only 1,000 vacuum tubes do you think about funding us? Or we’ll give it to you. We just and perhaps weigh 1.5 tons,” according to Popular Mechanics want to do it. Pay our salary, we’ll come work for you.’ And of March 1949. Today’s small portable laptops called netbooks they said, ‘No.’ So then we went to Hewlett-Packard, and they weigh 1.5 but kilogrammes and not tonnes, and the technology said, ‘Hey, we don’t need you. You haven’t got through college to “transmit documents via telephone” is so cheap that we yet.’” can afford to send video jokes via e-mail and download whole Microsoft’s Bill Gates did not finish college either, but he DVD movies from Internet. still went to become the richest man in the world and create And we have a home computer despite the beliefs of Ken the world’s most powerful software company. Olson, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Now open your web browser and check your e-mail on the Corp. who in 1977 claimed that “There is no reason anyone 1.5 tonne computer you should not have at home. Do a search would want a computer in their home.” Although Olson later online with a search engine. If you have used Microsoft’s insisted he was referring to a computer that controls that home Internet Explorer browser, Hotmail webmail or used Bing and not a personal computer, today we have digital control search engine, like hundreds of millions of Internet users out systems to control different aspects of the home environment. there, be aware that in 1993 Bill Gates said “The Internet? We We even have fridges that connect to Internet. are not interested in it”.

In 1948 a scientist claimed in Mechanix Illustrated that we are able to control the weather How TIME magazine saw computers controlling society in 1965 JOURNAL OF THE INSTITUTE OF TOURISM STUDIES ISSUE 4 december 2009 | 55

To be fair with Mr Gates, he also admitted his mistaken If we sift through the techno babble of yesteryear we may predictions. still find important ideas and notions of what could happen in “Sometimes we do get taken by surprise. For example, the future. when the Internet came along, we had it as a fifth or sixth Alan Turing, a British mathematician who helped crack priority,” he later admitted in 1998. A nasty surprise indeed, the secret German navy code during the Second World War one which landed Microsoft into a battle of attrition with and is considered to be one of the fathers of modern computer Netscape for the dominance of the web and in trouble with science, warned that “We can only see a short distance ahead, the European Union. but we can see plenty there And today Microsoft’s “The Internet? that needs to be done.” new operating system, We are not interested in it” His most famous Windows 7, has been Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, 1993 quotation lands us exactly designed with Internet use into the unchartered in mind. territory of artificial intelligence, an area where were we think Microsoft was not the only one to write off technologies we will see a lot of development in the coming years. even before people started to hear of them. “A computer would deserve to be called intelligent if it “Remote shopping, while entirely feasible, will flop - could deceive a human into believing that it was human,” he because women like to get out of the house, like to handle said more than 60 years ago. To test this, go to an online chat merchandise, like to be able to change their minds,” claimed engine and see whether you can make out whether you are TIME magazine in 1966. Next time you buy something on chatting to a machine or a human. eBay remember that even the best print magazine can get it “When these new machines realize their potential,” said wrong. Yet, shops and shopping malls have not closed down. John Diebold, chairman of the Diebold Corporation ... “there We still go to shops, but the experience has been transformed will be a social effect of unbelievable proportions”. Today’s into an entertaining one. robots have artificial intelligence equivalent to a slug or

A computer would deserve to be called intelligent if it could deceive a human into believing that it was human 56 welcome IDEAS tourism culture heritage

Washed 100 times by another laundry Washed 200 times by Snowhite

Your whites are whiter for longer with Snowhite.

Look how the cotton towels on the right have retained their With your whites looking whiter and softer after 200 washes, whiteness even after 200 washes by Snowhite compared to the it is evident that you can achieve longevity of your linens that pile on the left. only Snowhite can provide. It makes you wonder how a white cotton towel can become And should you choose to outsource your linen service to us, so grey. that longevity will become a capital investment that we will safe- In fact, the greying effect on the left-hand pile comes from guard on your behalf. the build-up of lime scale and detergent within the towel’s fibres. For more information, or to arrange a tour of the Snowhite This also explains why the grey towels are heavier and have factory, call 2148 7000 or visit www.snowhitelaundry.com. a rough finish. And why, when properly washed by Snowhite, they regain their original brightness and fluffiness. Problems like this occur when linens have not been given the correct washing cycles and inherent treatments. After all, you may have the right equipment but you also need the technical know-how and experience to achieve optimum results. A proper understanding of water-flow and energy analysis helps too. JOURNAL OF THE INSTITUTE OF TOURISM STUDIES ISSUE 4 december 2009 | 57

Ridley Scott’s Bladerunner (1982) depicts a human dystopia in Los Angeles of 2019. We are nowhere near that scenario which should develop in the next ten years.

bee. But when shall we have robots with enhanced artificial Since we know human nature, some of these will actually intelligence, will it cause a chain reaction that will lead us to make life worse for some as man violent instincts take over in The Matrix downfall? certain situations. According to futurist Ray Kurzweil, we are approaching Hindsight a rapid acceleration in technological advances which he Hindsight. Everyone knew about it, after it happened. calls ‘The Singularity’. By the year 2045 strong artificial It’s unfair on all those who opened their mouth and got it intelligences and cybernetically-augmented humans will wrong, but at least we can sure about one thing: it’s very very become the dominant forms of sentient life on the Earth. €500 difficult to predict the future of technology because of the will buy a computer a billion times more powerful than the unpredictability of human nature. human brain. This will change the history of mankind forever. Morten King, a Danish scientist, summed it up this way: We will not vouch for such predictions. There are too “The lesson we have learned with this kind of technology many variables. What if an asteroid really crashes into Earth or is that people overestimate the impact in the short run and aliens make contact and they turn out a little more evil than underestimate the impact in the long run.” we are or offer us far superior technology than we possess? While we still don’t live in glass bubbles or have flying And there is always politics to mix up things. Newsweek cars, who could have predicted the profound changes brought had this suggestion to its readers in the early 1960s “And for by Internet? the tourist who really wants to get away from it all, safaris in This article will not attempt to predict the future. We Vietnam.” stick to our theory. It’s useless. However we can quote What we can certainly do is share the fascination of predictions of the future. Shall we take the cue from technology with Sir Arthur C. Clarke’s, English science Hollywood? No, not a wise thing to do. fiction writer and the inventor of the satellite, who in 1961 All we dare to say is that man will continue to research, declared that “Any sufficiently advanced technology is experiment and innovate, all in the name of a better life. indistinguishable from magic.” W 58 welcome IDEAS tourism culture heritage JOURNAL OF THE INSTITUTE OF TOURISM STUDIES ISSUE 4 december 2009 | 59

Champagne “”Champagne is that magical word that evokes celebration, pleasure, luxury and elegance and very few special occasions are celebrated without a bottle or two. Champagne is one of France’s precious gifts to the civilized world where in each bottle there are approx 47 million pretty bubbles

t is impossible to pin down when the first sparkling wine time within the casks and containers which the juice had been Iwas made because it was accidental. Fizziness in wine bottled. The second fermentation produced carbon dioxide in was originally perceived as a fault. This came about when excess, which became trapped inside the containers and created temperatures plunged suddenly in the Northern Hemisphere a slight fizziness… Champagne was born. at the end of the fifteenth century. Large bodies of water It was Dom Perignon a Benedictine monk (1638 - 1715) across Europe froze. At vintage time in the Champagne though, who perfected ‘the Champagne method’ when he lived region the weather suddenly was much colder than normal. In and worked in the Abbey of Hautvilliers close to Epernay. Dom wine making, the yeast that was placed on the grape skins to Perignon introduced many practices that survive in the process convert to sugar in the pressed grape juice into alcohol during of modern wine making, among them severe pruning, low yields the warm months did not have sufficient time to do its job and careful harvesting. He also experimented to a great extent because the sudden cold abruptly stopped the fermentation with the blending process and was one of the first to blend the process. When spring came, fermentation began again but this produce of many different vineyards. 60 welcome IDEAS tourism culture heritage

The name Champagne is derived from Campania, by The Geology of Champagne is absolutely unique and which the Oscan people of Italy knew the dusty open country represents a determining factor in the difference that exists north of Mt Vesuvius. Seeing the open dusty chalk plain of between Champagne and other sparkling wines. Ancient northeastern Gaul, the Romans called it Campi Catalounici, oceans left behind chalk subsoil deposits when they receded which eventually was modified to Champagne, which may 70 Million years ago. Earthquakes that rocked the region seem strange today as the terrain may be the same but not the over 10 million years ago pushed the marine sediments of geology, as the Italian Campania is carpeted by thick layers of Belemnite fossils up to the surface to create the Belemnite volcanic ash, not chalk. chalk terrain. This Belemnite / Limestone soil allows it to The Champagne region forms part of the Paris basin absorb heat from the sun and gradually release it during and found about 160 Km East of Paris. It covers about 34, the night as well as provides good drainage. Other slightly 500 hectares spread over 319 villages situated in 5 dept. The inferior soils like micraster chalk and clayey marls are found Marne, Aisne, Aube, Haute Marne, and Seine et Marne too. By law there are four authorized training systems of divided into 5 districts each producing distinctly different base grapes grown in high density vineyards of which two are wines. compulsory for ‘Grands et Premiers Crus’. These are the 1. The Côtes des Blancs ‘taille Chablis’ and the ‘Cordon de Royat’. It is considered 2. The Aube that a quality vine plant should bear only 12 – 15 grape 3. The Montagne de Reims bunches and it takes a dozen bunches of grapes (1.5 kg) to 4. The Vallée de la Marne produce a bottle of Champagne (75cl). 5. The Côte de Sézanne The CIVC (Comité Interprofessionnel du Vin de Champagne) is responsible to apply policies applicable to Within these there are 17 villages classified as ‘Grands both growers and houses alike also protecting and promoting Crus’ and 43 villages that qualify as ‘Premiers Crus’. the Champagne Appellation. The Champagne province is located near the northern Champagne is made in the ‘méthode Champenoise’ limits of the wine world (30 - 50) along the 49th parallel. This or ‘méthode traditionnelle’ from any of 3 grape varieties, high latitude and mean annual temp of 50°f (10°C) creates a the Red Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier and the white difficult environment for wine grapes to fully ripen. Ripening Chardonnay. is aided by the presence of forests which help to stabilize This term indicates a sparkling wine which has temperatures and maintain moisture in the soil. The cool temp undergone a second fermentation in the bottle in which it is serves to produce high levels of acidity in the resulting grapes sold. Methods of production include picking whole bunches which is ideal for Champagne making. by hand, a rapid first fermentation, blending of parcels

The name Champagne is derived from Campania, by which the Oscan people of Italy knew the dusty open country north of Mt Vesuvius JOURNAL OF THE INSTITUTE OF TOURISM STUDIES ISSUE 4 december 2009 | 61

and often with reserve wines, bottling and tirage, second fermentation, lees ageing, riddling, disgorging, topping up and dosage and finally dressing the bottle. Champagne normally has 5 – 6 atmospheres of pressure inside the bottle and can be found in various styles from Non vintage, vintage, Rosé, Blanc de Blancs and Blanc de Noirs. It is also found in various levels of sweetness from: Brut Nature, Extra Brut, Brut, Extra-sec, sec, Demi-sec, to Doux depending the dosage (liqueur d’expédition) added.

Champagne is bottled in various sizes form Quarter bottle 18.7 cl Half bottle 37.5 cl Krug Bottle 75 cl Krug was established in 1843 by Johan Joseph Krug. The house Magnum (2 bottles) 1.5 lit is now part of global luxury brands LVMH. The company Jeroboam (4 bottles) 3 lit produces roughly 500 000 bottles a year of mainly “Grande Rehoboam (6 bottles) 4.5 lit Cuvée”.. Methuselah (8 bottles) 6 lit Krug is sometimes considered as producer of only “prestige Salmanazar (12 bottles) 9 lit cuvées which is one of the company’s marketing strategy. Balthazar (16 bottles) 12 lit Today Krug is a great luxury brand. Nebuchadnezzar (20 bottles) 15 lit

Dom Pérignon Two glasses have been synonymous with Champagne In 1668 Pierre Pérignon, a Benedictine monk, created throughout history: the ‘coupe’ and the ‘flute’ with the flute the “Champagne method”. He worked on creating, and now being preferred as the surface area is not as large as establishing the reputation as the ‘Champagne’ and he the coupe thus discouraging the bubbles to escape rapidly introduced many practices to “make the best wine of the rendering the wine flat. It also concentrates the aromas in the world”, top of the glass. As a final note Champagne should be stored The Dom Pérignon’s Champagne became really famous, between 9°-11°C, and should be served anything between and today the brand’s vision is to make Dom Pérignon one of 4.5°C and 7°C which is ideal for a slow release of the mousse. the most desirable luxury brands.

Moët & Chandon Moët & Chandon owned by the luxury group LVHM, is one of the world’s largest Champagne producers and a prominent champagne house. Established in 1743 by Claude Moët, today the company owns more than 1 000 hectares of vineyards, and annually produces approximately 26, 000, 000 bottles of Champagne.

Veuve Clicquot Ms Clicquot, was married to François Clicquot who owned a Champagne business. Her natural curiosity encouraged her to take an interest in the house’s affairs. When her husband died, she decided to continue the business. She was the first woman to lead a company of men. Ambitious, visionary, and with an innate sense of luxury, she transformed her family company into a great Champagne House. Today the brand “Veuve Clicquot” represents boldness and elegance and knows an international success. W 62 welcome IDEAS tourism culture heritage

Manuel MANGANI

Manuel Mangani is the Coordinator for Alcohol Services at SEDQA, the National Agency for the Control of Drug and Alcohol Abuse Servingalcohol anddoing noharM JOURNAL OF THE INSTITUTE OF TOURISM STUDIES ISSUE 4 december 2009 | 63

It must be fun, mustn’t it? Serving in a bar, I mean. So, how are you, as a server, to be sure that your behaviour People ask you for drinks, you serve them with a smile and a complies with the law, and, just as importantly, with the joke, talk pleasantly, offer refills at judicious moments, and ethical principle that you must not do harm to customers in no time patrons are pouring their heart out to you, letting during the course of your duties? How can you make certain you in their innermost secrets, and plying you with drinks. As that by satisfying patrons’ requests for drink, you are not they reluctantly leave they gratefully slip you their remaining risking police action and the withdrawal of the licence, thus gold, sure to return for more of the same the day after. Yes, putting in danger your very livelihood? being a barman must be one of the cushiest jobs known to There is one golden rule: try to help your patrons avoid man - or so do many people think: no real problems, no getting drunk. Before serving the first drink you may try to responsibilities. chat up the customer while looking out for tell-tale signs and You know it’s not like that. You know that the pace can symptoms of drunkenness, particularly: be hectic, the atmosphere at times tense, and patrons can be • Disinhibition: speaking or behaving inappropriately; as awkward, demanding and rude. You could also find yourself you would not expect people normally to do. faced with some nutty individual intent on causing trouble. • Reddened eyes: even slightly blood-shot eyes should put You know that when the alcohol flows, it produces different you on the alert reactions in different people and an atmosphere of fun and • Poor co-ordination: the co-ordination of hands and eyes is jollity can turn ugly in an instant. not what it should be: stubbing cigarettes near, rather than What you should make sure you also know and not forget inside, an ash-tray, dropping cigarettes or change for an instant is that as a server, you are also legally bound • Gross-motor control: has nothing to do with driving, but not to serve alcohol to any person who is drunk. The law means bumping into people, having difficulty standing up speaks clearly about this: in Malta police licences to run a and needing to seek physical support to balance; bar serving alcohol are granted only on condition that the • Changes in speech: words become slurred, and speech licensees do not serve alcohol to persons who are drunk. unclear. Moreover, it will not be long before patrons who get into • Flushed face: rather sudden reddening of the face trouble after they leave a bar in a drunken state will start • Decreased Alertness: reaction times increase, and suing the establishment or the person who served them, as customers in this state take longer than one would expect has happened abroad. to understand questions and to answer them.

If you notice one of these signs, it would probably be wise to draw the attention of at least one other worker, or preferably, the manager or owner. Try offering non-alcoholic drinks instead. If you notice a customer who has been in the bar for sometime and is now developing even one of these symptoms, you might wish to offer him some food. A full stomach will slow down the rate of absorption of alcohol and this may prevent drunkenness, though if the customer continues to drink heavily, he will become intoxicated.

There is one golden rule: try to help your patrons avoid getting drunk 64 welcome IDEAS tourism culture heritage

Possibly the most important step to take is to ask the • If possible, offer the customer the possibility of talking to a manager/owner to draw up a policy on drunkenness, and higher authority: the manager or owner. how to handle it. This policy should preferably be publicly • Don’t play the hero, but call the police if things get displayed, and should, as far as possible, include the following difficult. measures: • Drunken clients are not to be allowed to enter premises. It would also be helpful (in the long-term) if you were to • Clients who are drunk should not be served alcohol familiarise yourself with the services on offer for those suffering • The police are to be called if and when customers refuse to from drinking problems: at least a few of those who turn up leave the bar. regularly at your establishment will have the sort of problems • Happy-hours and cut-price drinks are to be avoided for which professional help will be required. Generally • Happy snack-hours, where food prices are decreased, speaking, memorising the three-digit number 179 should be should be encouraged. enough to set people on the right track to receive help. Given that a dangerous substance - alcohol - is at the When confronted with a drunken individual, try to keep centre of the daily professional life of the server, it is unlikely these points in mind: that your working-life will ever be completely stress-free. • If you have to ask him/her to leave, do it politely and do However, if you do keep in mind there are ways of acting not react to verbal abuse. ethically and managing potentially difficult situations, • Look the person in the eye, but do not get too close. problems in your working-life can be minimised, though the • Explain the establishment’s policy but don’t argue. job will never be the piece of cake some people fondly imagine Apologise “I’m sorry, but I do not want to lose my job”. it to be. W

Generally speaking, memorising the three-digit number 179 should be enough to set people on the right track to receive help JOURNAL OF THE INSTITUTE OF TOURISM STUDIES ISSUE 4 december 2009 | 65

How is ITS dealing with the Future?

This is the twentieth year of ITS in its ray Vassallo Ray Vassallo is the editor of Welcome. He is the Coordinator for present incarnation. Today the Institute Information Technology, Publications and EU Programmes at the Institute of Tourism Studies. He has worked at the UN and for a number operates in a milieu very different to of other international organisations as well as occupying management posts in the private sector. He also lectures in Information Systems and that in which it saw the light of day. New Media at the Institute. ITS is also the first Maltese Educational Institution to attain full endorsement within the Malta Qualifications Framework and consequently in the European Qualifications Framework

The rapid technological changes of the past quarter- industry. Moreover Customer Relations Management, Supply century have overtaken the Tourism industry creating a Chain Management, Enterprise Management, Knowledge scenario where the traditional hospitality industry faces Management and eBusiness practices are also shifting the way decline unless it implements a system-wide restructuring in tourism operations are carried out. the way it operates. Social Tourism, Integrated Relational In recent years, the ITS, conscious of the transformation Tourism, eTourism, Eco-Tourism, Cultural Tourism and which the industry has to experience, has been gradually many more enfants terribles are transforming the face of the revising and modifying its educational and training 66 welcome IDEAS tourism culture heritage

programmes within the limits of its physical and human The establishment of four research and development resources, in tandem with what is taking place in the real centres, the Centre for eLearning Technologies, The Centre world. Taking an inter-disciplinary approach, eBusiness, for Cultural and Heritage Studies, the ITS Science Centre eCommerce, Knowledge Management and Enterprise and the Centre for the Future lies at the forefront of the Management are already, or soon will be, integrated in its ITS’ strategy to upgrade its activities in the light of the programmes of study. The study of Food Science has also been Knowledge Economy. Through these Centres the ITS is introduced and a state-of-the-art science lab set up in order participating in numerous EU-funded projects the results of to infuse scientific methods, practices and thinking even at a which is influencing the diversity and quality of its learning vocational level. The introduction of eLearning and Blended programmes. Learning systems has greatly enhanced the way ITS learning ITS has also affiliated itself with the Slow Food Movement programmes are being delivered. The electronic resources as well as La Rotta dei Fenici (The Phoenician Route) and available at the Institute are now at par with those offered by HERIMED (The Mediterranean Heritage Foundation). higher education institutions abroad. Many of the Institute’s Over the past few years ITS has also consolidated its lecturing staff now possess advanced academic and professional relations with a number of European Higher Education degrees in their areas besides being considered as authorities in Institutions with a view to launching joint programmes their own individual specialisation. in Tourism Education. These include The University of The Institute has also initiated an outreach programme Perugia, The University of Palermo, The Grenoble School of whereby it continually cooperates with local governments Management, The University of Manchester, The University and NGOs in public activities aimed at bringing the benefits of Lancashire, The Dublin Institute of Technology, The of the industry to as wide a market as possible. Through the Waterford Institute of Technology and various others. The Institute’s efforts a number of trans-national initiatives in the year 2010 will see the launch of the ITS’ first Masters fields of cultural and ecotourism have seen the light of day. programme in its field of study. W JOURNAL OF THE INSTITUTE OF TOURISM STUDIES ISSUE 4 december 2009 | 67 68 welcome IDEAS tourism culture heritage

25291 - A4 Veuve Clicquot.indd 1 11/24/09 3:28:09 PM