Are tourists really welcome?

I have just returned home from another great holiday in Malta. We went to Kirkop for the feast of St Leonard and the village was beautifully decorated.

There was a sign outside St Leonard's band club stating "Tourists welcome". I went up to the bar where I was ignored by two bar staff even when I spoke to them. Eventually I was served by a boy of about 13. I asked for three bottles of Cisk. He opened them and said Lm2.10c. I queried the price so he called one of the barmen who had previously ignored me. He too said "Lm2.10, 70c each".

I was shocked and replied "everyone knows they are 40c ", to which he replied "50c". I said no and the bottles were swiftly put back under the counter. I exited the premises and went into St Joseph's Club, a few doors away, and asked the price of a bottle of Cisk: "60c", she said. Needless to say I did not pay. Later, I went with a Maltese friend to the same clubs and he went to the bar this time. He was charged 40c per bottle in both clubs. Tourists welcome? More like mugs welcome.

The price of a bottle of "peach tea" varies from 25c in a local store to 45c in a little store on a Valletta corner. I appreciate the fact that prices do vary on some items as they do in the UK where we too have greedy people out for a "fast profit". Do they not realise that by keeping in line with fair pricing they are much more likely to sell more?

Grumble over. The experience did not, by any means, spoil my holiday. It just annoyed me very much for being taken for a mug. I am very much looking forward to my next visit in February.