After the second record year for tourist arrivals, one would have expected the tourism industry to rejoice at increased bed nights and better profits.

In fact, MHRA, the association that represents hotel owners, said in a statement recently that “it notes with satisfaction the increases registered in arrivals over the past three years and the increase in money tourists spent, which in 2012 amounted to over a €100m.”

MHRA president Tony Zahra explained that “MHRA were indeed pleased to see an increase in the (now defunct) budget for MTA of €1m specifically aimed at increasing arrivals in the shoulder and low period. MHRA is also pleased to note a number of measures which are all in the right direction including; investment in product, in particular in relation to heritage sites; tax credit incentives and the development of boutique hotels in Valletta, Mdina and the three cities. MHRA is also encouraged that government recognises the need to assist the three- and four-star hotels but more details are required to understand how this will be achieved.”

MHRA is “less enthusiastic about the budget as the request made by MHRA to ‘leave something in the hoteliers’ tills’ has not been heeded by the Finance Minister”.

The association noted that the budget and the reaction to the proposals were positive when viewed from the national perspective over the next 12 months but less positive when viewed from the hotel investor’s perspective especially spanning a period of time.

Mr Zahra further explained that Malta’s economy had grown in 2012 mainly due to the great performance of the tourism industry. The 1.6% GDP growth for 2013 is also projected to come mainly from the tourism industry. The backbone of the industry is the hotels and restaurants which need regular investment to keep them up to date if not improved.

“We have been asking government for a return to the 5% VAT rate on accommodation and a drop in electricity rates by 4c a kilowatt. These two measures would have been important for the hoteliers to be able to fund the much needed refurbishment and re- investment which needs to be done regularly.”

Now this is something that rather mystifies us although we acknowledge that, were utility rates somehow to climb down, that would be good for each and everyone of us, hotels obviously included.

The hotel industry is one very Maltese industry, which has risen from the ground by dint of its own investment, its own entrepreneurship and its own initiative.

Some have fallen by the wayside, mostly those that seemed to believe that just because the owners knew how to construct big complexes, that made them automatically qualified to run hotels. But many have thrived and are thriving.

It is a pity that there have been significant hotels that have closed down and today lie derelict, such as the Forum and the Jerma Palace. Others have been converted into apartments. Some areas, especially the south, have been left without hotels of a certain size.

The lack of tourist numbers before the influx of low-cost carriers had left many hotels, especially the smaller ones and those in the classes of three-star and lower, as well as the dependence on tour operators who squeezed for ever lower rates, severely hindered the hotels’ efforts to keep up with the maintenance and refurbishment that were needed, if not with the upgrades that could enable them to attract a better kind of visitor.

Now however, there has been a change of scene. The passengers carried here by the low cost-carriers and those who come here on mini-breaks, and, even more importantly, the advent of online booking engines and thus the lesser reliance on tour operators, as well as funds from the EU to invest in cleaner energy and upgrades in general – have all contributed to enable some hotels to upgrade and improve their bookings. Some have even been very successful in this.

This is why, while agreeing in part with the MHRA insistence on bringing down utility rates, we tend to look at it as not quite addressing the issues and the needs of the sector. It rather seems like one of those arguments one hears about so much during these pre-electoral days that make everything sound so simple and that put the blame squarely on a Scrooge energy provider that does not want to lower the prices it charges.

The final comment one would like to make is not addressed just to the hotel sector: instead of looking to what you feel the country owes you, look to see what you can do from your own resources and initiative. After all, the glory of the hotel sector in Malta could be attributed precisely to the fact that the sector invested and kept investing even without any help from anybody.