The tourism industry is concerned that the improvement shown in arrival figures between November and March will not continue, and it is likely that the industry will not continue to grow enough in the coming months, the Malta Labour Party spokesman on tourism, Evarist Bartolo, said yesterday.

The current trends were that tourists were spending less time at their destination, and this meant that Malta needed more tourists who spent more money, Mr Bartolo said.

At a time when the country needed to promote itself and improve the services it offered, the Malta Tourism Authority has ended without money. The MTA this year had a deficit of Lm1,190,000, and last year it had spent 19 per cent more than it had done in 2005 but still attracted 50,000 fewer tourists.

There was need for a better administration, and the many changes that have taken place within the MTA have still not led to better efficiency, he said. Sectors such as the two- and three-star categories and areas such as Bugibba and Gozo were not being well taken care of.

Mr Bartolo said the inter-ministerial committee on tourism led by Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi was still to leave its mark.