Month after month, the tourist arrivals figures still merrily tell us that the numbers of incoming tourists has gone up.

It is now more than clear that the decision, taken some years ago, to allow low cost airlines has more than repaid dividends.

One notes the unusual presence of LCC passengers in many hotels, even in winter and shoulder month times.

This must have improved their bottom lines no end.

In fact, one notices that most if not all 5-star hotels are busily refurbishing and upgrading their offer.

But the take-up does not seem to go beyond the 5-star segment.

This can only mean one thing: the rest of the tourist accommodation sector are still suffering from the after-effects of long years of cost-cutting, austerity and dependence on tour operators.

One would love to know what kind of comments tourists who pick an LCC flight and take up accommodation at the first hotel that comes. At least until some years ago the special websites that carry comments would be full of complaints about malfunctioning fixtures etc.

In previous years, the hotel accommodation sector was offered funds, including EU funds, to upgrade their hotels, introduce energy saving devices and better amenities including getting a webpage so that would-be customers could access and book their stays.

Unfortunately, very few took up this offer, which is very strange considering the absolute importance of the internet in today's tourism. Those who did, found out such upgrades produced results, and maybe helped inspire their colleagues to do the same.

Still, the sector, especially the 2- and 3-star segment is still a rather long way from undertaking a thorough upgrade of their offer.

There are also two other aspects that worry us.

Over the past years, Malta has lost many hotels - some well-known while others were relatively unknown. Among the known there were the Jerma, the Mgarr Hotel, not to forget the Verdala Hotel, and others.

There have been some notable additions, especially the db Seabank and the upgraded dbSan Antonio. Others are in the pipeline such as the Intercontinental upgrade and its nearby new hotels and the new venture between Corinthia and Radisson. Overall, and especially in the lower ranks Malta has not yet replaced what it has lost over the years.

One also notes there has been a decrease in the number of foreign chains setting up in Malta while on the other hand we now seem to be getting a new wave of boutique centre-town hotels.

By and large, as it prides itself to reiterate time and again, the hotel industry in Malta is mostly self-grown, self-sustained and self-financed. That is to its credit, although the construction/developers who went into hotel management found out, with notable exceptions, it did not have the skills to run the hotel it built.

We still say the wave of tourist increases has yet to grow more, and we now say too the hotel industry as a whole has still ample margins for improvement and growth.

The leaders in the sector serve as trial blazers hoping the rest will follow.