The level of service provided by car hire companies, taxis, public buses and the Gozo ferry is having a negative impact on the tourism industry, with a third of all visitors saying they are dissatisfied with these services.

This damning conclusion is found in a report commissioned by the Malta Tourism Authority which delved into several aspects of the overall tourist experience.

The report, written by government consultant George Micallef, says the data on transportation is “worrying” and a lot of tourists have a bad experience of it.

Car hire companies top the list of complaints, with 36 per cent lamenting the quality of the vehicles on offer. The service itself was criticised by 34 per cent of visitors.

The author suggests that car rental operators are starting to feel the strain of a changed tourist profile and have not managed to adapt.

As for the taxi service, 28 per cent were dissatisfied by the “physical offer” and the same amount by the service provided.

Public transport also fares badly, with more than one in four tourists in 2012 rating the buses negatively and close to one in three giving thumbs down to the service in general. That was the second year of Arriva running public transport.

On a positive note, only a negligible number of visitors said that the service offered at the Malta International Airport was not up to scratch.

However, sea transport connecting Malta with the sister island attracted a 25 per cent level of dissatisfaction in terms of facilities and infrastructure.

While roads and traffic attract negative ratings from four out of every five tourists, parking is deemed a negative experience by 75 per cent.

The author urges the authorities to deal with these issues, saying they are an important component of the tourist product.

In spite of the injection of hundreds of millions of euros by successive administrations, perennial problems persist in the island’s general infrastructure, he adds.

The data was mainly gathered by the MTA through questionnaires.