The government has commissioned an independent expert to analyse 2014’s tourism statistics, identify the sectors that need to be strengthened and recommend the steps to be taken.

The report will be released for public consultation within weeks, Tourism Minister Edward Zammit Lewis said yesterday during a meeting with the Malta Hoteliers and Restaurants Association.

A preliminary report on last year’s figures, which were very positive, found that length of stays and revenues had risen over the winter months.

Mr Zammit Lewis presented the association with the national tourism strategy report, noting it was something they had long been calling for. “At the end of the month we will issue the policy and start working on its implementation,” he said.

He referred to the hoteliers’ association as a “vital partner” for the government in the tourism industry and described their relationship as a “private-public partnership par excellence”.

Dr Zammit Lewis also refuted claims made by university lecturer George Cassar, interviewed in Times of Malta yesterday, that the tourism sector had reached saturation point, saying “we have more to add and can increase our capacity”.

MHRA president Tony Zahra, who was recently re-appointed to the role, welcomed the recent drop in fuel prices and said he was looking forward to another cut next month.