The news announced by the Parliamentary Secretariat for tourism, stating that tourists are not happy with two- and three-star accommodation’s physical qualities has been felt for quite some time.

Matters seem to have come to a head with a quarter of tourists rating the physical attributes of hotels as being ‘not so good’, ‘poor’ or ‘very poor’. But looking on the bright side, most of the respondents said that they were very pleased with the service offered, meaning that there is some silver lining to the proverbial cloud.

Two- and three-star accommodation, by nature, has to be based on quality of service, more than the physical attributes of a hotel. To offset this discrepancy, which we must add is a real shame, the secretariat has offered subsidies, reduced rate loans and much more in an effort to allow hotels in these brackets to come up to scratch.

So, where do we go from here? Maltese hoteliers in this particular sector seem to have missed the boat. Simple economies of scale have allowed four- and five-star hotels to offer some really competitive and good deals which effectively price the lower star hotels out of the market. It is simple – which would you rather? Paying e100 a night for a four-star hotel, or e85 a night for a three-star? One would have to opt for the former.

Quite how Malta, and by this we specifically mean the two- and three-star private sector, did not jump of the European bandwagon is a bit puzzling.

There is a very real demand for small boutique hotels in the rest of the world and they are doing brisk business indeed. They offer the same ‘homely’ service as do two- and three-star hotels in Malta, but they do it with a difference.

The hotels’ number of rooms have in general, been reduced, and ‘sacrificed’ to make way for larger rooms, reading rooms, small art galleries, exhibitions, wine tasting events and much more.

The prices might be a bit higher than those of a three-star hotel, but the demand is there. Tourists who do not want to spend as much money no longer opt for such accommodation. They either take a low cost flight and find accommodation in a better star hotel (albeit for a shorter period), or opt for holiday villages or self catering. Again, it is simple. The costs and overheads of a large three-star hotel (or two-star for that matter) simply do not make economic sense. One cannot offer full and half board accommodation and in turn expect handsome profits. Those days are long gone. If anything, as mentioned, hotels in this bracket should make full use of all the subsidies and grants on offer to turn them into a viable boutique hotel. One need not shed staff. All one needs to do is shed a number of beds and offer a better tailor made and authentic Maltese service based on individual attention, home cooked food, cultural awareness and traditional hospitality.

As mentioned, it might not result in as many numbers, but it will certainly result in more repeat business, better advertising by word of mouth and most importantly, better advertising on the many blogs and travel review sites that one finds on the internet. Many Maltese use them nowadays, why should we assume that the foreign tourist – wherever he is from – is any different?