A quarter of tourists surveyed by the tourism authority said they were dissatisfied with the standard of accommodation provided in Malta.

According to the study, conducted last summer, it was not the level of service the tourists were unhappy with but rather the physical standard of the hotel they had stayed in, Tourism Parliamentary Secretary Mario de Marco said yesterday.

He said it was very important to upgrade the tourism product, which did not only include the infrastructure but also accommodation.

Dr de Marco was speaking during an information meeting for tour operators about a subsidy scheme launched last April and which, he said, should encourage accommodation establishments, especially three- and two-star hotels, to upgrade their product.

Budget hotels were still needed, especially in the present economic climate, he added.

The subsidy scheme covers 1.5 per cent of the interest rate paid on refurbishment projects and one per cent of the interest rate on extension projects in the accommodation industry.

The scheme, which essentially encourages businesses to take out loans for investment, was allocated €300,000 a year for the next 10 years.

Meanwhile, yesterday, figures released by the National Statistics Office showed that outbound tourists two months ago fell by more than 10 per cent when compared to the same month last year.