Alternattiva Demokratika has called on the tourism industry to develop niches through eco and agro-tourism, particularly in Gozo.

The call, which comes in the wake of gloomy industry forecasts for 2009, follows a meeting between top AD officials and the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association.

The MHRA, on its part, stressed the need for measures to attract visitors in response to the global financial crisis, such as by increasing inbound plane seat capacity and having a strong, one off publicity campaign abroad.

The MHRA also called for an improvement in the island's road and service maintenance, stressing that, "product Malta cannot be left in a state of abandonment".

It estimated that some €8 million would be needed to keep maintenance at the levels necessary for the tourist industry to thrive, pointing out that a failure to invest this sort of money now could put in jeopardy between €64 to €91 million in lost revenue - calculated on the estimated loss of around 10 per cent in tourism this year.

On the controversial plans to replace the current Għadira bypass with one that cuts through the back of a nature reserve and fields MHRA and AD agreed that they would wait for scientific studies before proceeding with in-depth discussion.