Complaints about the country’s infrastructure are top of the list of gripes made by tourists visiting Malta. A report commissioned by the Tourism Ministry says that tourists complain about Maltese roads 80% of the time.

A further 65% of complaints are about inadequate signage, which has been further compounded by “some bright spark” who decided to put up road signs in Maltese, as one representative for the federation of English language schools put it during a press conference.

The lack of cleanliness around Malta is another frequent complaint for tourists (50%). George Micallef, who authored the report, said that surveys carried out by the Malta Tourism Authority over the past twenty years have consistently yielded the same infrastructural complaints by tourists.

Mr Micallef said that the millions invested by successive governments in improving Malta’s infrastructure seem to have counted for naught in terms of tourists’ overall satisfaction.

On the positive side, the Malta International Airport has consistently retained a high level of satisfaction.

Tourism Minister Karmenu Vella said that one-third of those visiting Malta are repeat visitors. Mr Vella said that the successful tourism figures of the past few years cannot be viewed in isolation, as one also has to look at visitors’ satisfaction during their stay.

Mr Vella said that just over half those visiting Malta travel individually rather than with on a group tour. This involves catering for different needs, as the visitors will not have the benefit of a qualified guide.

He said that even when abroad people want to remain in their technology bubble, particularly when it comes to internet access wirelessly. The aim, he said, is to innovate rather than merely renovate Malta’s tourism product.

Increasing competitiveness through price cutting is not the way to go, with the ideal scenario being lower tourism numbers with higher revenue, he said.

The report by Mr Micallef highlights the lack of urban planning and the degradation of the aesthetics in tourist zones.

In historic cities, the report highlights the need for regeneration, as well as recommending the need for pedestrian directions signs and a tourism information system.

One of the other recommendations is a proposal for the creation of an eighteen week programme of events to cover the winter and off peak months, with one main event per week.

The report says that staff working in the tourism industry need to have a greater awareness of Maltese history and culture.

On his part, the Tourism Minister said that promoting Malta as a winter destination does not involve reinventing the wheel, as all it involves is indentifying three or four products which can be marketed for that period.