The tourism industry is expected to improve next year, according to the Parliamentary Secretary for Tourism.

Speaking during a visit to a five-star hotel, where preparations were underway for last night's New Year's Eve dinner, Mario de Marco said statistics showed that the number of tourist arrivals was picking up again after a turbulent year.

He said this year had been a difficult one for the industry, which hit the doldrums together with its foreign counterparts. However, figures were never below those of other countries. Moreover, compared to Cyprus, Spain and Portugal, the situation here was better.

Dr de Marco said tourist arrivals were estimated to have fallen between eight and nine per cent for the year although they had started to gradually pick up again in recent months.

Statistics just issued by the National Statistics Office for January to October show that arrivals fell by 9.5 per cent. However, he pointed out that this was in comparison to last year, which was a record for the country in terms of arrivals.

Nevertheless, he conceded that the recession was a learning experience for both the government and industry and said it has been decided to carry on with the initiatives taken, including a moratorium on loans taken out by hotels and a subsidy on advertising abroad. He said the latter was particularly important because tourists now tended to make arrangements only about a week before a holiday while in the past, they made bookings months before.

Dr de Marco was accompanied by Malta Tourism Authority chairman Sam Mifsud, who yesterday stepped down, making way for Louis Farrugia. Mr Mifsud has been appointed MTA consultant.

kbugeja@timesofmalta.com