The Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association is calling for a national conference to discuss the impact of hunting on the economy.

The announcement came hours after the hunters' federation - FKNK - observed in a statement that tourism from Germany was up 13% in March despite warnings by the outgoing German ambassador that hunting would hurt tourism. 

The MHRA said it was urging all tourism stakeholders, including non-governmental organisations, government and the Ornis committee to hold a national conference to discuss in the impact of hunting on the Maltese economy and way of life.

MHRA President Tony Zahra said: “MHRA has always been on the forefront to discuss issues that impact the tourism industry and we are always focused on finding solutions through discussion.

“Maltese law allows for hunting to be practised at certain times of the year and we fully respect this fact, however, as the association representing the tourism industry in Malta, with hundreds of millions of euros in investments and thousands of people in tourism related jobs, we must also take into consideration the economic implication that hunting might have on this industry.”

MHRA said that reality had to be faced and called for a pragmatic approach to be taken.

“It is clear that there is a challenge in addressing the economic issues raised by operators in the industry, and the issues raised by the hunting lobby group...

“Malta needs to be smart to ensure that everyone is a winner and that there are no losers,” Mr Zahra said.