The president of the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association, Tony Zahra, this afternoon called for 'money on the table incentives' by the government to help the hospitality sector further improve its energy efficiency.

Mr Zahra was speaking at the MHRA's quarterly presentation on the performance of the hotels sector.

He said the association was in talks with the government about incentives, but no agreement had been reached yet.

The hospitality sector, he insisted, needed to invest in energy efficiency to ensure that costs continued to go down and sustainability was maintained.

His call followed calls by the GRTU and the Chamber of Commerce for further reductions in energy tariffs in view of the decline in international oil prices.

In his speech Mr Zahra welcomed the fact that tourist arrivals were continuing to rise.

As in previous speeches, however, he noted the increase in the number of tourists going to private accommodation instead of hotels, using services such as Air BandB. He insisted that all players needed to operate on a level playing field. Private accommodation offered to tourists needed to match the standards, such as safety requirements, required of hotels.  

"If you want to be in the tourism industry you have to obey the rules like everyone else," he stressed.