Eurostat indications on Malta’s tourism industry merit a serious and immediate analysis, said tourism shadow minister, Marie Louise Coleiro Preca.

The statistics published by Eurostat show that Malta’s tourism industry was the worst affected in the first two months of this year compared with other EU countries. Malta fell 4.3 percentage points behind the EU median.

This fact is a clear indication that the nationalist government did not have a strategy and action plan to prepare ahead for the problems posed on tourism by the international crisis, said Ms Coleiro Preca.

Countries like Cyprus, which started investing in their tourism industry years after Malta did, are managing to attract more tourists than Malta, another refection of the government’s lack of

forward thinking to position Malta as a stable tourist destination, she continued.

The situation worsens when governments of competitor destinations are doing their utmost in counter the crisis by introducing fiscal measures such as reducing taxes on this sector. Such measures are being introduced to keep their countries competitive and ensuring further investment and employment despite of the international crisis, went on Ms Coleiro Preca.

Meanwhile, the PL will further stress the need to introduce a number of measures that would aid the tourism industry such as reducing the Value Added Tax rate. Such initiatives would stimulate the tourism industry, which is economically and socially essential for Malta, finished Ms Coleiro Preca.