In a statement, FATTA said the latest announcement to cut MTA’s budget by Lm500,000 and Heritage Malta’s budget by a further Lm350,000 is completely in contrast to the Prime Minister’s declaration that tourism is one of the government’s key priorities.

The government has been slapping tourism operators and the industry repeatedly for the last year. After jacking up the entrance fees to Heritage Malta sites by 75 per cent, lumping the industry with a three per cent increase in VAT on all services other than accommodation, and most recently increasing the cost of crossing over to Gozo by 14 per cent, these cuts come as the latest confirmation that there is clear inconsistency between the government’s declarations and its actions.

While acknowledging that the country is facing dire financial problems, FATTA questions the wisdom of the decision to cut back investment in tourism. It is tantamount to starving the goose that lays the golden egg.

FATTA also wonders what happened to the promise made during last November’s budget debates when the then Minister for Finance committed to setting up a tourism fund from revenue generated by VAT. This decision continues to highlight FATTA’s claim that there is little awareness and understanding of the tourism industry and its processes at cabinet and government level, which is really a shame considering its importance to the economy. FATTA also considers this decision to be nothing short of an insult to the members from the private sector appointed to the MTA’s Executive and Directorate Boards.