The tourist industry is talking up the current year, hoping that will be much better than dismal 2009. Hope is being borne out with early signs that there may be a recovery in arrivals. It is less certain that there will be an overall recovery through the two other make or break indicators, the average length of stay and the tourist spend.

It seems unlikely that the average length of stay will go up to translate into substantially higher bed-nights than achieved last year. Nor is it indicated that hoteliers in general are proving able to restore their room rates to levels required for them to offset the losses recorded in 2009. Last year saw bed-night rates plummeting as hoteliers tried desperately to stem the fall in the incoming flow. A combination of the three factors that guarantee success or failure saw the industry as a whole report very considerable losses.

Reports coming in from the industry, not least collectively from the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association, insist that clawing back last year's losses is unlikely. That will hamper the industry's ability to effect such new investment as is necessary to upgrade the tourist product from its direct end.

The claim by the authorities that the decline in 2009 was over-emphasised by the fact that 2008 had been a very good year was only arithmetically correct. Using that argument one can say that the slowdown in the rate of the downturn which began in the last quarter of 2009 and continued this January and February was partly due to comparison against a weak base.

It is far better to judge each year on its merits. In that regard the strengthening of the Malta Tourism Authority and an increase in funds allocated to it was a good step in the right direction. So was the appointment of a new chairman from the periphery of the industry but with vast experience in services and product marketing and retailing.

Also, the decision to allocate funds across the industry, rather than focusing on individual units, by spending to attract increased carrying capacity which will target an additional 100,000 tourist, was correct. There is already talk that it will not be enough, that plans should be drawn up to target an increase of 250,000 arrivals.

One can easily say that, no matter how much is done, it is never enough. But the positives should be taken into account, and it is a positive sign that the industry has been prioritised to be given fresh impetus. The prioritisation has not led to tourism getting its own minister, as was often the case in the past. But it has a parliamentary secretary who, though he also has to oversee implementation of the Mepa reform, is a direct part of the Prime Minister's immediate team. That ensures that the industry's political administration has heavy political clout. Whether that will be enough in a situation where the government not infrequently seems arthritic remains to be seen.

There are further positives in what has been announced so far. To my mind by far the most important is the focus on marketing Malta and Gozo as islands boasting a very proud heritage and culture. We are among the best in the Mediterranean at that and, in some areas, simply the best. It is important that we do not hold back from saying it in a context which is meaningful because, above all, it is driven by action, not mere words.

It is not enough, for instance, to promote as an island possessing impressive unsurpassable bastions. These bastions, so much neglected in the past, have to be adequately restored and properly maintained. That, at least, is in the offing. Plans have been drawn up to restore six kilometres of bastions. What's more, funding has been provided through a substantial allocation of €36 million. More will need to be done, at further princely cost. But that restoration will be a very good start.

It will not run on its own. At long last focus is also being placed on restoring Fort St Angelo, at Vittoriosa. The old fort is one of the main jewels in the crown of Malta's heritage. Aside from an apartment within it beautifully done up by the Knights of Malta, it has been abandoned. That neglect is part of the justification for the new president of Din l-Art Ħelwa asserting that the environment has been left in shambles.

Funds are also being found to restore an old building in Valletta and turn it into an interactive centre on fortifications, highlighting how Malta's fortifications were built. These are all moves in the right direction. They will not have immediate effect. But they represent important investment in areas where both tourism and our sense of pride have been calling out for.

Progress in executing these projects will be of the essence. One hopes the media - not just the politicians - will follow such progress minutely so as not to allow it to fall behind schedule.