We report in this issue an account of last week's Business Breakfast held at the Hilton and organized by this paper and the Ministry for Tourism.

As was experienced by those present and as is evident from the report, the official talk was all rigorously optimistic: tourist numbers are up, so are earnings, arrivals, even cruise passenger arrivals.

Dancing around the edges, however, was Air Malta and its present predicament. Both before and especially after the business breakfast, the clouds continued to gather around the national airline.

Among the many scare reports in the media there was that the negotiations with Alitalia had broken down, that the government was going to shoulder some €66 million, the airline's debts, that the airline will be declared bankrupt and those who will be kept on will get a new contract.

In reply to all these reports the government's steadfast reply was that the negotiations are still ongoing and that such reports were premature. The airline itself, as also is evident from this issue, is still going on about its business and even trying to find novel attractions such as organizing a disco in the sky on a trip to Ibiza.

In the background there is, of course, the ongoing threat by the pilots to undertake some sort of industrial action. But pilots are the least category to feel under threat while the rest of the airline's employees already have some sort of government guarantee they will be taken by the government, and will not be allowed to become unemployed.

The clock is nearing midnight and we can expect some sort of decision in the coming days or weeks. With its planes being leased, and owning very little else in the way of capital, Air Malta's real riches are the slots at airports, especially Heathrow. Once it sells these, it becomes just a feeder airline.

It was amazing how at the business breakfast nobody spoke about the airline's nuts and bolts - ticket prices, service with a smile, convenience, etc Mainly, the airline has a captive audience in those who want to come to Malta but scheduled and non-scheduled (low cost) airlines are busy eating into Air Malta's market share and will increasingly do so.

This was not the only blind spot at the breakfast. We heard all about MTA's coming up to full complement but nothing at all about that complement's impending move to Smart City which no doubt will absorb huge resources and efforts over the coming months.

Then the issue of cleanliness was raised and we were fed the usual reassuring bytes about future plans and the new eco-tax. What many would have preferred to hear undoubtedly were concrete and clear commitments to tackle the issue head on and within days instead of generic plans for the less immediate future.

The same can be said, although it was not clearly mentioned at the business breakfast, about enforcement on illegal accommodation (especially in Gozo), slipping standards in hotels and restaurants and anywhere tourists feel they have been tricked.

It was heartening to hear that new hotels, both boutique and normal hotels, are in the pipeline, and also to consider that existing hotels have been allowed to increase their volume buy two further storeys.

Looking around the room, one was struck with the general middle-aged prevalence of the attendees, reflecting a tourist offer that can easily become middle-aged. We need more young efforts and ideas as well as energy to transform Malta into a real tourist venue for the 2020s.