Labour tourism spokesman Evarist Bartolo said yesterday that although tourist arrivals this year are expected to increase over last year there are still whole zones, such as Gozo, Buġibba and the southern part of Malta, which are not benefiting as they should from such expansion.

The government was not showing any commitment to ensure there is an efficient air transport system between Malta and Gozo in order to increase all-year round tourism in the sister island or to give a new life to Buġibba, St Paul's Bay, Qawra and Xemxija, which needed new projects in order to be able to compete more effectively with other tourism zones, Mr Bartolo said.

Neither was there any commitment to ensure that the south of the island would have the tourism development it needed so that it would not continue to fall behind following the closure of the only hotel there.

Mr Bartolo said the government should work to attract more tourists to make up for the drop in bed nights and the drop of 14 per cent in spending in the first three months of this year compared to the same period last year.