There has been such an abundance of ministerial performance reviews over the past weeks that few may have had an appetite to go into what the Central Bank of Malta had to say in its annual report. Only a few of the economic indicators usually make the headlines, and even Parliament does not often go into the nitty gritty of certain aspects of the economy, such as manufacturing, for example.

Exports of goods and services were down last year and industrial production declined too, but the services sector continued to grow. Semiconductors, a very important line in the island’s manufacturing set-up, were among the goods hit by the slowdown in export trade. What is particularly significant though is that, as Central Bank governor Josef Bonnici said in his review, the economy continued to outperform the euro area average, despite what he described as the still fragile external environment.

But the prospect of continued recovery in the EU, even in countries that had been hit hard by the financial crisis and the subsequent recession, is generating greater confidence all round, as shown by the growth in tourism. Malta is taking an increasing share of this growth, as shown by the fact that, for the fourth consecutive year, it continued to perform strongly.

Tourist arrivals, nights stayed and expenditure were all higher last year than in 2012. The number of tourists grew by 9.6 per cent, up to 1.6 million, and nights stayed and expenditure went up by 8.7 per cent and 8.6 per cent respectively.

Joseph Muscat’s government may, as is its wont, wish to take the credit for this too. But reality is that it was under the previous administration that the tourism industry really got going, due to an improved product and the advent of low cost airlines.

Also, growth is a reflection of the improved sentiment generated by the signs of economic recovery all round. People everywhere are inclined to travel more when economic conditions improve. In so far as Malta is concerned, the opening of new routes and the laying on of additional flights have pushed the passenger movement threshold at the airport to the four million mark, which is impressive.

However, as the industry keeps growing, it is important to keep in mind too the island’s ability to sustain the growth. Increased generation of power and water may well cover forecast requirements, and with the eventual laying of the interconnector linking the island to the European grid, no problems are expected to arise over supply.

But what about other aspects of the infrastructure? How many more tourists can the island take in any one year? A greater inflow presupposes that Malta keeps developing its infrastructure to cope with demand, but there is a limit to the extent this can be done in such a small island.

Hotels may add additional storeys to provide more accommodation but there are physical restrictions to the expansion of other infrastructure and facilities. Which is why the country will need to think more of attracting higher-spending tourists rather than basing targets on numbers.

Even with the inflow the island is getting now, greater attention would need to be paid to maintenance, something we lack tremendously as shown by the shabby appearance of certain places. There has been some improvement here and there, but the island cries out for a steady upgrading of facilities and for much greater cleanliness all round.