One of the topics that was debated during the budget is tourism. In the first nine months of his year, nearly one million tourists came to visit Malya. This is a very good score and is the beginning of a renewal of the industry.

So many positive things emerge as the tourist trend and profile continue to change quite rapidly.

The government’s direct subsidy towards low cost carriers, and on which I argued in favour, has given immediate results. Direct sellers are faster than the traditional foreign tour operators, and consequently sales do come in faster. The internet buyer has come, and will come again in the future. This has to be helped by constant advertising, as each booking is an individual, unlike the tour operator business, where the operator guides his clients to the destination to visit.

Building on this success is paramount. Declines in some markets as the German, French and Dutch must be addressed, and to reverse this trend we must look towards the tour operator. The opening of the Malta Tourism Authority offices, again, is a step in the right direction, as their prior closure was a slap in the face of these tour operators who need to be constantly talked to.

Air Malta is improving yearly, both in approach and pro-activity. It could have been done so much earlier but we should all be satisfied that it is, too, moving in the right direction. Both low cost and Air Malta are providing benefits to the Maltese traveller that were not imagined before, and this is also as a direct consequence of European Union accession.

Tourism is a fragile industry and constant attention is needed. Overbookings in hotels do us harm. Putting clients up in Gozo instead of Malta can in a way be accepted, but offering Sicily as an alternative is not on. Combining flights should be avoided because it is detrimental and counters our advertising. Student traffic, nearing the 100,000 mark this year, should be controlled and put in the responsibility of the school on a 24-hour basis, and not just during school hours. Disturbance to other tourists and locals has been evident this year. This mars their wanted presence and trade. Leaders should be with them all the time, thus avoiding those rowdy and dangerous games, the drinking and other incidents that do us no good.

In Parliament I did make some suggestions, such as a webcam on the MTA website as that on the Chioggia website. Time is ripe for a satellite station, 24 hours a day, with booking possibilities in different languages; some dive wrecks in the St Julian’s area; and more supervision on the construction side. But, also, noises tourists have to bear such as trucks blaring horns and early construction digging should not be part of our tourist product, and can be controlled at once.

Cruise liner visits on Fridays could find themselves short of coaches for the amount of tourists that disembark.

I am sure the increase of volume of tourists will continue, and we risk in having not enough beds available. I did finally suggest, therefore, the bed and breakfast concept, that is married to low cost flying. This is an opportunity for small business, family run houses or apartments, splitting the property down to very comfortable rooms with bath, and serving a good breakfast.

When you hear all this, and look on the other side at Labour, so happy with their epic book Bidu Gdid, you realise that the beginning is old, and that it has already began.

Their programme needs a re-think and re-print.

Business, work opportunities and the future lie in the Nationalist Party.

Robert Arrigo is a Nationalist MP