The opposition spokesman on tourism, Evarist Bartolo, said today that while more tourists were expected to visit Malta this year compared to 2007, areas such as Gozo, Bugibba and the south of Malta were not benefiting enough from tourism.

He said the government was not doing enough to ensure an efficient air link between Malta and Gozo so that tourism to the sister island could be year-round.

Nor was the government showing any commitment to breathe new life into the tourist zone of Bugibba, St Paul's Bay, Qawra and Xemxija, which needed new projects in order to render them competitive with tourist zones in other countries.

Similarly, the governemnt was not showing any commitment for tourism development in the south, where the only large hotel there had closed down.

Mr Bartolo said that although the number of tourists visiting the island was expected to grow this year, the increase needed to be bigger to compensate for the drop in tourist nights and in earnings from tourism The latter was down 14 percent in the first quarter of this year compared to the same three months of last year.