The 17 Air Malta pilots who reported sick and did not turn up for work on Tuesday were this afternoon lambasted by the outgoing president of the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association Tony Zahra.

Speaking during the presentation of the industry's quarterly review, Mr Zahra said:

"This is not acceptable. You are playing with our livelihoods." He noted that although the association did not comment publicly, it was involved behind the scenes in resolving the situation.

Air Malta Chief Operations Officer Philip Saunders was not so forthcoming and skirted the issue when asked about the matter.

Joking about feeling "too sick to comment", he congratulated the Air Malta and Malta International Airport staff for their efforts in managing the situation.

He said more ideas on how to animate Maltese winters were needed to attract more tourists to the "relatively quiet winter months".

According to the review, carried out by Deloitte, the industry saw a healthy recovery this summer after a "bumpy start".

Deloitte spokesman Raphael Aloisio said tourist arrivals increased by 9.8 per cent when compared to the same period last year. Guest nights increased by 59,000.

Hotels' average occupancy stood at 80 per cent, indicating an increase that was significantly lower than the increase in arrivals. One of the main reasons was an increase in private occupation.

Mr Aloisio, however, pointed out that the winter months remained a major concern for the industry.

Mr Zahra urged hotels not to bow to external pressures and lower their rates.

Reiterating claims that this would be the "perfect summer" for local tourism, he said more events were needed to help improve the "empty" winter periods.

"The conclusion is that we have a good thing going here in Malta but lets not muck it up," he said as the assembly burst into applause.