Tourist arrivals are 12,000 down on the January to June figures last year, and the money spent in Malta was Lm2 million less than last year, the Malta Labour Party said yesterday.

Opposition MP Evarist Bartolo said that the government will once again fail in its aim to attract 70,000 more tourists this year, compared to 2005. He said that the government had also failed in its efforts to attract an extra 50,000 tourists last year when compared to 2004.

Mr Bartolo pointed out that while tourist arrivals were down by two per cent in Malta, competing nations such as Italy, Greece and Spain had seen four to five per cent increases in their arrivals.

The MLP said that the government was rooted to the spot, had done nothing to solve the matter at hand and had done nothing to stimulate more arrivals. The MLP believes that the government should get together with all stakeholders to draw up an emergency plan to boost tourism, spruce up the country, improve standards and encourage more airlines to fly into Malta, said Mr Bartolo.