With 1.6 million tourists arriving in Malta in 2014, and with this year set to beat what was yet another record year, we cannot ever underestimate the importance of tourism to the Maltese economy.

Over the past decades, we have diversified into financial services, Igaming, customer care centres and more. But tourism was, and will continue to be our very lifeblood, the one activity that keeps our economy ticking over year after year.

Although tourist arrivals keep on increasing, hotels have also upped their game and have managed themselves better, in terms of getting the bed nights in and not losing out on potential bookings. Similarly, tourism related businesses have expanded. We have more and better quality restaurants, and activities relating to tourism have also been improved. We now have open top buses, numerous lidos and beach areas and more.

Out trades and crafts have been fine-tuned to be more appealing to discerning tourists, as has our cuisine. Our cultural sites are also better managed, cleaner and more informative than ever, celebrating our people, our traditions and our history to the full.

But there are areas where we have slipped. Service in some of our run of the mill eateries and bars has slipped, with many of them employing staff who have basic levels of English and are not really trained for the job. Another area which needs vast improvement is the state of the roads and public transport. The least said, perhaps the better. Another issue is that of power cuts in the summer months, which incurs extra expenses for hotels running on generators, as well as not giving a great impression of our infrastructure as a country.

To keep bringing tourists to Malta, we must be accessible. The dawn of low cost carriers and the diversification of legacy carriers has brought more and more people to Malta with Ryanair, Easyjet, Vuelling, Wizz Air and many others opening up opportunities that we could not have dreamed of 10 years ago.

But that has also brought with it great challenges, which the national carrier – Air Malta – seems unable to deal with on its own. After an EU approved emergency loan, EU approved state aid and countless cost cutting measures, it seems that the embattled airline is still facing very stormy weather.

The government continues to speak of strategic partnerships, and the more that time goes on, it is beginning to sound like the government is looking to sell a stake of the company to foreign investors. The front runners seem to be Turkish Airlines and an unidentified private company in China.

It is crucial that Air Malta remains operational. It continues to tap into markets that brings us many visitors that we need. While the government is free to explore all avenues that might save the airline and make it viable, it should always keep at the back (if not the front) of its mind, the fact that Air Malta still brings a very large percentage of visitors to Malta and takes them back home. Of course, if Air Malta did cease operations, the vultures would swoop in and try to fill the void. But at what cost? Malta’s national interests, of course. There is no doubt that Air Malta cannot continue to operate in the way that it is at present, but we cannot afford to lose the benefits that it gives us as a country and as a people.