The government yesterday expressed satisfaction at the ‘encouraging’ tourism results which were registered in the first quarter of 2010.

Despite a sluggish start to the year, total tourist arrivals were up by seven per cent while cruise liner arrivals jumped up significantly, especially in March with a 40-odd per cent increase over 2009 figures.

One has to agree, this is positive and it is encouraging. It will also serve to increase market confidence, especially as the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association predicted that despite the sluggish start, things would improve. Improve they have, Malta has begun to recoup some of the losses it suffered due to people sacrificing their holiday abroad for something cheaper in view of the biting recession.

But one of the first things we need to keep in mind is that while we have begun to recover some of the losses of last year, we have not yet reached the 2007 and 2008 number of arrivals. Those two years represent the apex of tourist arrivals and we can only say that we are really out of the woods when we reach those figures once more.

In addition, we must also bear in mind that while tourist expenditure increased, operators such as hotels and restaurateurs have expressed worry that their bottom line will change drastically due to the increase in utility bill payments. Others will argue that tourist expenditure is up, but we do not know whether that added expenditure will cover the loss in profits which are being made. As is the law with tourism, we will only know about three months later.

As ever, January and February provided very slim pickings and this is a problem which has blighted Malta and Gozo for years. The reality, one must say, is that while we have good weather for most of the year, it is generally bleak and miserable on our islands in January and February, bar a good day here and there.

When you add to the mix the simple fact that there is absolutely nothing of value to do in Malta (aside from nature walks) in the winter, then we really have not done much to boost our overall product. If we wish to achieve better results in 2011, we should begin to address this problem from now – but very cheap room rates and cheap flights alone will not solve the problem.

What is now paramount is to focus on the upcoming peak season of late June, July and August. We must continue to do our utmost at government, operator and citizen level to ensure that we make a success of this season.

We must continue to upgrade the island’s infrastructure and offer something different. Over the years, we have slowly seen the introduction of tourist services (audio clips by wi-fi at information spots, open top buses and more), but by and large, we are lagging behind in what we offer them.

Time and time again, we have said that we cannot compete in the beach and sun format. We must branch out. We must improve our excellent dive sites by giving divers the infrastructure they need, we must improve the presentation of our history and landmarks. We must improve more and we must improve across the board. Adverts on television and subways are important, but we should never advertise what we cannot, in turn, provide.