Six hotels have shut down for the winter months as rising costs and fewer tourists have made it unsustainable for them to remain open.

Although some hotels have made it their policy to close down for refurbishment during these shoulder months, the situation is worse than usual, due to the economic downturn and the rise in costs.

The Suncrest Hotel, one of Malta's largest in terms of accommodation, has closed its doors from December 1 till March 7, but has kept its employees on the payroll.

Anġlu Xuereb, the owner of the four-star hotel, told The Times that even during the Christmas period it would have been unfeasible to remain operational. Two years ago the hotel had closed for refurbishment but had waited until January before doing so to cash in on staff parties and festive lunches.

The employees of Suncrest will be using up accumulated vacation leave and the overtime they clocked during summer, according to Mr Xuereb. Like other hotels, it will take advantage of the slow period to undergo maintenance and refurbishment.

According to the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association the other hotels closing down in the winter include the Primera Hotel, Palm Court, Sunflower Hotel, Karanne Hotel and Palazzin. Most of these are smaller hotels located around Buġibba and Qawra, areas which are always badly hit during the shoulder months.

On the other hand, other hotel owners who spoke to The Times confirmed they would not be closing down despite the bleak outlook. Many are holding their breath and hoping next summer will make up for the difficult winter.

"The country has never been through this kind of world recession and adopting a business-as-usual attitude, as if nothing is happening, is not an option. That is why the MHRA strongly objected to recent utility tariff increases, as this hits the operators and reduces the spending power of the Maltese," MHRA chief executive George Schembri said, adding that this year's slow months will be far slower than witnessed in recent years.

"Some hotels had planned their closure earlier in the year, giving employees time to find alternative work. Others kept them working on their refurbishment programmes, while other employees are taking residual leave from this year and the next. Hoteliers are not happy with the situation but it is the only direction available to them at the moment," he said.

"Government after government in the last 40 years has tried to address the off-peak months but to date we have not succeeded in finding the right formula to ensure adequate demand for the sector during winter."

Mr Schembri called for more innovative facilities and a cleaner environment to make the islands more welcoming during this period.

"We cannot afford to do nothing about our product as our competitors are moving way ahead of us," he added.

He said that although revenue was going to continue dwindling, this was the time to push ahead with huge investment in the country's product so that when the situation improved the country could compete with a better product.

Asked about the situation, a spokesman for the Parliamentary Secretariat for Tourism told The Times that it is customary for hotels to plan refurbishment and extension projects in the winter months so as not to affect the peak months.

"This is imperative if we are to keep our tourism product up to date and top-notch," he said.

In order to combat the effect of the global financial crisis on tourism, the Malta Tourism Authority will be increasing its promotion across all markets and will be running television campaigns not only in the UK but for the first time also in Italy, France and Germany.

"We are also actively targeting particular demographic groups that are the least negatively affected by the current economic slowdown."

The MTA will also try to target emerging markets, such as Dubai and Russia, in order to diversify the marketing efforts, while trying to increase accessibility to Malta through constant discussion with various airlines.

The spokesman added that the injection of €120 million from EU funds will further help to improve "product Malta".