What do 40 years at the centre of Malta's nightlife teach you about growth, and about yourself? Philip Fenech has spent about 40 years in Malta's tourism and nightlife industry, opened one of the first clubs in Paceville, and today chairs town centre management for St Julian's and Paceville. Partners: Motileo https://gamify.openinapp.link/motileo-cc Alliance https://contact.openinapp.link/alliancexcc His father was a civil servant who believed in a steady government job, and thought Philip was crazy to go into business. He remembers when the best chef you could hire was one who had cooked for the British forces, when tourists told him at his club they would not come back because all Malta had was sun, sea and history, and when a postman or a nurse would ask him for weekend shifts to top up their salary. He was instrumental, he says, in bringing Ryanair to Malta, and in the days when bars closed by 1am he pushed for longer opening hours for Spanish tourists, who ate late. Later, as a spokesman for the night economy, he helped bring in the 4am cut off for amplified music after accidents on the roads. In this conversation he explains what growth looks like from the inside. Why Malta, heading for 4.5 million tourists this year, reached a number that was projected for 2030. Why this January brought more tourists than August 2012. Why nightlife is only six to eight percent of tourism, and Malta is not, in his view, a party island. Why a restaurant can be full every night and still lose money, and why, when someone tells him their turnover has dropped, his first question is how many others now do the same thing on their street. He is open about his own business too. He was over ambitious, expanded too much and lost his position in the market. In business, he says, everyone hears the success stories and almost nobody hears about the tragedies. He also takes Luca's questions on population, foreign workers, AI, housing for the under 30s and public transport. On buying a first home, he says the market will not reset on its own: the world is a rat race, and you have to persevere. He still goes out until 4am two or three times a week, and the first thing he does is speak to the duty police officer. The moment that stays with you is about the other side of nightlife. He grew up with the hippie ideals of the 70s, a guitar and long curly hair, and says his generation glamorised drugs. He remembers the first Maltese he knew on heroin, friends who were injecting, and says many friends he was at school with have died of overdoses. He calls himself a health freak, and says he would not have survived all these years in nightlife otherwise. Asked in the journal question what problem he would leave for humans if AI solved everything else, his answer is understanding yourself. You age, he says, when you stop in an era. You grow when you keep evolving with the times. This is not an episode about tourism figures. It is an episode about a man who has watched an island change for 40 years, and refuses to stop in an era.
