Provisional indications showed that tourist arrivals from Malta's main markets rose in March and April, Tourism Minister Michael Refalo told the annual meeting of the Rent A Car Association yesterday.
He said the indications confirmed the view he had expressed during the budget debate in Parliament in December that Malta would have a good summer and that at least 1.1 million would visit Malta this year.
Dr Refalo, while not giving figures, said that during March and April arrivals had increased from Britain, France and Italy and the German market had shown clear signs of recovery.
Arrivals from Holland and Russia were at last year's level while tourism from Switzerland, the Scandinavian countries, Libya and the United States were down compared to the same months last year.
He said his figures did not include arrivals on cruise liners.
Dr Refalo focused on the tourism situation. He said the September 11 events had made a bad international tourism situation worse.
The minister said that those who commented on the drop in volume to Malta needed to consider the international economic situation, particularly that Swissair was no longer operating, Swiss was not operating to Malta and that the lifting of UN sanctions meant there were fewer visitors from Libya.
The September 11 crisis had also led Air Malta to cut services to the Middle East.
A Scandinavian company was not operating to Malta this year, although it would be back next year.
Happily, however, Malta was now recovering well, he said, while announcing the indications for March and April.
The minister also said that a package of new regulations under the Travel Services and Tourism Act were published on Friday. They regulate the procedures of the board which hears appeals from decisions of the Tourism Authority.
During yesterday's meeting, association president Victor G. Gruppetta, said the car rental sector was passing through difficult times. Competition was growing, demand was falling, and costs were rising.
Operators, he said, needed to co-operate with each other and agree on a minimum rental rate, rather than allow themselves to be blackmailed by tour operators and offer excessive discounts to undermine each other.
He said demand for car leasing had fallen to such an extent that the association had made representations to the minister of finance to amend fringe benefits regulations to enable this sector to recover.
The association had also pleaded to the authorities so that car rental garages would no longer be held liable when people who rented cars were found guilty of not wearing seatbelts, using a mobile phone while driving and violating other traffic rules.
It had also requested that cases before tribunals following bookings by wardens would be centralised before one tribunal. A reply was being awaited. He said the association was continuing to object to car importers leasing or renting cars.
Mr Gruppetta also referred to cash flow problems faced by some garages and said the time may have come for members to discipline themselves over the credit they allowed their clients.
He welcomed improvements in traffic signage but said the state of the roads was still the worst enemy of the garages because of the costs they had to incur on vehicle repairs.