MHRA concerned over fuel increases

The Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association said it is concerned about the increase in the price of fuel and in particular in the increase of thin fuel oil which is extensively used by the hotel industry.

The cumulative increase of thin fuel oil over the past 13 months exceeds 50 per cent, and this is putting a heavy burden on the industry, the MHRA said.

The MHRA calculates that the increase in the cost of thin fuel oil alone, over the past months, has cost the hotel industry around €2,450,000, which averages at €18,550 per hotel, per annum.

This increase does not include the consumption of diesel and petrol, which if added will push up the cost of increases on fuel to around €20,000 per hotel over the past year.

“Thin fuel oil is extensively used by the hotels for heating purposes during the winter months when the industry generally operates at a loss and consequently this, in addition to the very high utility rates, will probably push more hotels to consider closing during the winter period, as further losses will become unsustainable,” it said.

The MHRA feels that if this had to happen it will have a detrimental effect on the tourism industry at large and indeed on the economy.

The MHRA is also concerned that the cumulative percentage increase of thin fuel oil surpasses that of other fuel prices and it intends to write to the Malta Resources Authority for an explanation.

The MHRA appealed to the government to look into this matter in order to find a way of curbing the increases on the cost of fuel, as such hefty increases are rendering the entire islands less and less competitive, it said.