I was called by a journalist from The Times on August 16 and asked whether my farmhouses are occupied by Maltese. I told her she was asking the wrong person because I have no Maltese staying in my farmhouses and that they are all occupied by non-Maltese tourists. Furthermore, I told her that the situation is satisfactory, especially considering the financial crisis.

The conversation was that brief and I was quite surprised that my comment was inserted into her article the following day, under the title Poor Holiday Weekend for Gozo.

I could have elaborated further. The last thing I wanted is to give the impression that the tourism situation in Gozo is satisfactory. It is correct to say that my farmhouses were full of tourists in the period of Santa Marija, however I need to explain that here we are talking about the peak tourist period of the year. I could have mentioned the situation of farmhouse rental during the shoulder periods of the year where, in my case, I got 20 per cent fewer tourists this year when compared with previous years.

There are many factors for this reason and not just the economic crisis, which the government is comfortably blaming so often.

The economic crisis is a factor, of course, but it would be better if the Maltese authorities would do some introspection and see what they should be doing themselves in the first place.

Gozo is in a bad state. Tourists do not like to visit Gozo, stay in one of my luxurious farmhouses and then walk up the road to find that there is no transportation to take them here and there.

They often complain that when they rent a car and had to visit Victoria (the capital of the island), they often do not find a parking place, that they cannot walk the streets because of the noise and traffic together with the smoke of lorries and car pollution. Where is the public transport reform for Gozo, if I may ask. Then they often like to dine out. Can we say that some of the restaurants' menus are good value for money?

I often get families with children staying at my farmhouses. They are very satisfied with all the amenities I provide but they do not find nice and safe playgrounds or any fun park for their children to play in at Gozo.

Thank God tourists still regard Gozitans as friendly people. They still find that the Mediterranean climate suits them good. The villages are still authentic with their own groceries and other small shops. Still they can admire the green, open spaces on Gozo.

For how long this will remain, I do not know. But I truly wish that the elected politicians think and act before it is far too late. We citizens had more than one chance to bring a real change to this status quo but people preferred to stick to two parties instead of having a pluralistic system.