The Nationalist Government’s “winning formula” in the tourism sector should not be changed, Tourism Minister Mario de Marco said yesterday.

“Do not change a winning horse,” he said, when asked about changes in direction planned by the Labour Party for the tourism sector.

Dr de Marco opened the televised press conference, held at the PN headquarters, by listing facts and figures to show how the number of tourist arrivals, bed nights and tourist expenditure increased over the past five years.

This year, he said, should be another record year in tourism for Malta.

Figures showed the first month of 2013 was “the best January in tourism history” and, although the figures for February were not out yet, Malta International Airport confirmed a record 176,000 passengers passed through.

These results were achieved thanks to Government investment in increasing routes across various airlines, advertising Malta and Gozo and investing in tourism.

The Government also invested in restoration, improving the countryside and organising cultural activities.

Dr de Marco made reference to the recent European Commission report that forecast Malta’s economy would grow and made reference to “the particularly resilient performance of the tourism sector”.

“We should be proud of these results and, if trusted, the PN will keep investing in tourism,” he said.

He added the PN electoral programme listed various proposals aimed at achieving further records and investing at least €215 million into the tourism sector.

Proposals included night tariffs for hotels and proposals aimed at targeting the specific needs of Gozo.

The number of visitors to Malta in 2012 surpassed the 1.45 million mark – an increase of two per cent over 2011.