Hotel, restaurant prices have not gone up

The Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association is extremely surprised and baffled by the reference to the measured inflation indices which were published in the editorial of June 3. This was both incorrect and most misleading to the reader, as it erroneously led the reader to assume that hotel and restaurant prices had increased when this was definitely not the case.

As clearly stated in an MHRA press release last week, these figures were generated purely by the methodology being used by the National Statistics Office in its calculation of the whole Consumer Price Index. As such this is resulting in the provision of wrong information to the public, at a time when prices are in actual fact sliding in an alarming manner.

Hotel price variances between the first quarter of 2008 and the first quarter of 2009 will be published by the MHRA on June 18 and our survey will show the real extent of price reductions in our industry which is currently facing one of the most turbulent periods in its history.

As for the restaurant sector, this has been confirmed by NSO to have remained static in its pricing (a 0.02 per cent increase was in fact registered). Once again the confusion is caused by NSO terminology whereby restaurant and hotel data is grouped and presented together. It would however suffice to look into NSO data a bit more carefully before stating that both the restaurant and the hotel sectors have increased their prices.

While on the issue of the proposed VAT reduction on restaurant services, MHRA has had meetings with a good number of leading restaurateurs and obtained written pledges that they will not pocket the difference in VAT if this was to be reduced so that the effect is passed on to consumers. It is therefore a very partial and baseless assumption to claim otherwise.

We feel that there should be at least some research done from the side of The Times into such important matters which merit a more in-depth examination, hence avoiding the dissemination of misinformation. More so because the MHRA has already furnished this newspaper with ample clarification on this particular subject through a dedicated press release.

The comments in the editorial of June 3 unnecessarily damage both the hotel and the restaurant sector from a local and an overseas perspective. As they are based on erroneous assumptions this is a situation that should be avoided at all costs.