The governemnt has allocated €250,000 to local councils to help them organise quality events which would serve as tourist attractions during the shoulder months.

The Parliamentary Secretary for Tourism, Mario de Marco, said that almost 60 per cent of tourists visited Malta between October and June. Some 30 per cent of tourists were repeat visitors.

Malta, therefore, needed to continue to provide new attractions, including events organised by the local councils which would promote the unique characteristics and history of the various localities. Such cultural events, he told a press conference, would also encourage tourists to explore localities which were off the tourism zones.

Dr de Marco and Parliamentary Secretary Chris Said, who is responsible for local governemnt, said the funds were being granted after an evaluation of the proposed events in order to ensure that they were of a satisfactory standard.

Josef Formosa Gauci, CEO of the Malta Tourism Authority, urged the councils to fix the dates for their events as early as possible so that they could be promoted abroad by the MTA.

This is the second year that funds are being allocated by the central government for the councils to organise cultural events. 48 councils benefited from such funds last year.