Professor Cassola said that Malta was basically a mess. “We need to upgrade product Malta and we need to become a five-star destination. We do not need more tourists, but we need better tourists,” he said.

He also stressed on the need for the amount of tourist arrivals to be better spread across the low season and peak season. “We need sustainable and alternative tourism such as eco-tourism, diving holidays and cultural tourism,” he said.

But to do this, said Prof. Cassola, the necessary infrastructure had to be in place. “And we must also improve the upkeep of our cultural sites such as the prehistoric temples and the structures built by the Knights of St John.”

Prof. Cassola said that agro-tourism was another niche market that could be looked into. “We have so many unique products such as prickly pears, cheeslets, Maltese marrows and many others,” he said. Prof. Cassola also said that Malta needed better law enforcement when it came to building development. “Malta is one big building site. In tourist areas, anywhere one looks, there is development within 500 metres. This is unpleasant in terms of visuals and noise pollution. People come back to Malta and they see the same things every time,” he said.

He also said that government needed to look into the situation of outgoing tourism. “We are the only country in the EU where there are ridiculous taxes on outbound tourism,” he said.

AD chairman Harry Vassallo said: “They accuse (AD) of wanting to introduce eco-taxes, but since 1995, they have been imposing taxes on the tourism sector and now we are beginning to see the effect on tourism,” he said.

Dr Vassallo said it was important to establish the limits of tourism development the country could cope with. “We need better planning and enforcement. There are too many facilities,” he said.

Asked by The Malta Independent whether there were too many five-star development projects, Dr Vassallo said: “No one can dream of having an all five-star country. If we have too many five-star resorts, entrepreneurs will end up under-selling the resort. And when they do that, they will also be taking business from legitimate three- and four-star resorts,” he said.

Dr Vassallo concluded by saying that many hotel owners did not know where they stood in Malta’s tourism climate because it was ever changing due to the amount of development going on.