Malta's historical sites and museums were not being used to their full potential to attract tourists to the island, the Parliamentary Secretary for Tourism, Mario de Marco said.

"These historical sites need to be turned into an experience for the tourist. Our museums are more about conserving objects for tourists to see but they do not offer much of an experience," he said.

Dr de Marco explained that research showed that 35 per cent of tourists rated Malta's historical sites as "very good" while 48 per cent rated them as "good" and 13 per cent as "average".

When it came to museums, the ratings were 30 per cent for "very good", 51 per cent as "good" and 16 per cent as "average". Given Malta's strong heritage value, there was clearly room for improvement, he said.

Addressing a business breakfast, organised by The Malta Business Weekly, Dr de Marco spoke about his vision for the tourism industry. It centred around offering an experience, he said, adding that he believed Malta had four main products.

First there was the Grand Harbour experience where tourists could cross from Valletta to Cottonera by ferry turning the area into a local Lake Como.

Second, village life ought to be tapped into more and promoted since areas like Siġġiewi, Żejtun and Żebbuġ had a lot to offer. One way of turning such localities into attractions was to offer accommodation by, for example, converting old palazzos into boutique hotels.

Rural tourism also ought to be tapped into further as Malta offered a rare sea backdrop to its rural environments.

Gozo was the fourth experience tourists could be offered.

Dr de Marco said hoteliers and restaurateurs had to open their eyes to the reality that the typical tourist was no longer the British holidaymaker. Nowadays, Malta attracted continental tourists, with tourism from Italy, Scandinavia and Spain on the rise. These tourists had different needs, according to their cultures, that ought to be catered for.

The government and the tourism authority, he said, needed to ensure that the industry was moving ahead with the trends that included a move away from package holidays and shorter stays, among other things.

He said that efforts had to be made to address issues such as lack of adequate road signage. "Try to reach Għaxaq from St Julians. At times, even I would get lost, let alone the poor tourists who would want to make their way around the island by car," he said.

Hotels, he added, ought to make better use of information technology by getting themselves out there on web portals, social networking sites and ensuring they had an efficient website, he said.