Hotel and restaurant owners hailed the decision not to charge landing fees at the airport in winter to stimulate traffic.

“This move does not only give credit to Malta International Airport as an invaluable stakeholder of the tourism industry in Malta but it should catalyse other stakeholders to consider similar initiatives that can possibly generate further growth in winter months,” the president of the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association, George Micallef, said.

He said such an effort would lead to a “positive economic multiplier effect” that benefited all.

Winter was a very tough time for everyone in the industry and a collective effort to stimulate more business to Malta would make a positive difference, he noted.

Throughout most of the loss-making winter months, hotels traditionally slashed prices to rock bottom levels in an effort to generate more business as this helped them remain open, the association said.