The Tourist Trap

If I’ve said it once I’ve said it a million times: tourism is our salvation. While Gibraltar has historically brought in significant revenue through its financial services industry and favourable tax regime, these sectors are subject to changing international regulations and political pressures. Tourism, by contrast, is built on our unique natural environment, rich history, cultural heritage, all assets that cannot be relocated or replicated. The Rock itself has attracted attention forever and that will never change. For me it’s also something to boast about: “Come over on holiday and have a great time!” as opposed to: “Come over and find ways to avoid paying large tax bills!” The latter applies to a privileged few, but the former applies to anyone and everyone. 

Are we making the most of our tourist product and giving visitors a good experience which they will share with positive reviews all over the internet, or are we being greedy with restrictive ticket pricing and lack of information? Sadly, I think Gibraltar falls short in many areas, and it is time to have a rethink. 

In 2021 the Gibraltar Government stopped the walker-only ticket forcing everyone into an ‘all-sites pass’ and prices began climbing quickly from £16 to a whopping £30 each for all visitors over the age of eleven. Gone are the days when hikers could pay £7 and wander around to their hearts content, as now it’ll cost a family of two adults and two children the princely sum of £120. “But for £30 each they can see all the amazing attractions on the Upper Rock!” I hear you scream so I went to the Visit Gibraltar website to find out more. 

You would think that our biggest pull is a trip up to the summit to see the Barbary Apes however the opening page of the official tourism website does not make it easy. I soon became frustrated clicking on images that led to numerous other things but nothing clear about how to visit the nature reserve. I finally found a lot of text about history and guns, the opening hours, the ticket prices, but nothing telling the would-be tourist what they get for their money. Turns out the information is on a completely different website: naturereserve.gi where it says: “Walk through the Gibraltar Nature Reserve at your own leisure with access to 17 attractions, all its wildlife and trails”. Whoopie! Here was the info I had spent twenty minutes searching for. However, the ‘read more’ button gave zero information… What a mess; lots of beautiful photos but not user-friendly at all. In the end I had to ask the chatbot Jura who gave me this list: 

1. St. Michael's Cave
2. Skywalk
3. Windsor Suspension Bridge
4. Great Siege Tunnels
5. WWII Tunnels
6. Moorish Castle
7. Queen's Balcony
8. Spur Battery
9. East Side
10. Top of the Rock
11. Princess Caroline's Battery
12. Siege Tunnels Balcony
13. O'Hara's Battery
14. Charles V Wall
15. City Under Siege Exhibition
16. Apes' Den
17. Mediterranean Steps

Now, £30 each for all those things does sound like a bargain but here’s the catch, you must do it all in one day! The nature reserve opens at 9:30am and closes at 19:00pm so imagine a group of tourists navigating all that whilst taking in rest periods, photo ops, lunch, visits to the toilet, reading all the info boards inside the museums, browsing souvenirs, meandering through trails or simply sitting and enjoying the views. It’s impossible. 

Customers cannot purchase and print their entry tickets at home they need to be collected at the official offices which, again, do not open until 9.30am. So, those early birds who want to beat the heat and walk up the rock at 7am to watch the sunrise from Mediterranean Steps can no longer enjoy this unique phenomenon. This is a great shame. 

When the cable car was functioning, the best way to tackle the Rock was to get a one-way ticket to the summit then work your way down ticking off each attraction along the way. However, the replacement shuttle bus only goes as far as Queen’s Balcony (junction below St. Michael’s Cave) and it’s a very steep walk up to O’Hara’s from there. Today the only way to got to the peak is by private taxi hire. 

The fantastic WWII Tunnels are a must-see and have been designed for people to take their time. As well as the halls and tunnels it has interactive displays, a gift shop, and The Tunneller's Rest themed bar. To really appreciate this, people would need to forego a lot of other things as access isn't sold separately. The government boasts all these new tourist sites (often taking credit for private ventures) but what’s the point in adding more stops when visitors will be forced to miss most of them out? Cruise passengers and day trippers only have 3–5 hours so the whistle-stop coach trip or taxi option is perfect. But those people who have paid to stay overnight, some even a whole week at a local hotel, should be able to stagger their entry ticket over at least three days. Surely Gibraltar wants its guests to enjoy their holiday and take in all the wonderful things we have on offer, so why has the government taken this short-sighted decision to lump everything together? 

Gibraltar’s excellent museums and galleries are separate from the ‘all-sites pass’ and many are free to enter. However, the Gibraltar Museum, Parson’s Lodge, the Alameda Wildlife Conservation Park and the new Alameda café are all closed on Sundays. Our art galleries don’t open at weekends at all! Everywhere I travel these places open at weekends, and it is a failing of our tourist product keeping these cultural venues closed. Mind you the actual Gibraltar Tourist Information Office has its doors shut from Saturday lunchtime up until Monday morning and said office has just been relocated to the back of a new souvenir shop opposite Marks & Spencer. It’s a very odd decision and far off the usual entry routes. We ideally should have a dedicated Tourist Information hub at the frontier (old passport office the obvious location) and at Casemates Square. Instead, we have a police station which is never open and not really a good look in the prime plaza of our city.  

Why do we run our tourism sector as if it was another government counter? I cannot fathom the thinking behind stopping the separate walker’s ticket, forcing people into all-or-nothing choices or having weekend closures of cultural sites. We cannot be complacent just because our Rock will always attract visitors, let’s make the Gibraltar experience something to shout about.