After reading The Times (May 17), I refer to the article "Malta losing market share, tourism study shows", by Fiona Galea Debono, and I could not help noticing an anomaly between the statement "that price reductions were not stimulating demand" and what I find in real life.

I visit Malta once or twice a year, so I keep a close check on what is charged. I have not noticed any reductions in prices, on the contrary, I have compared the prices of one Malta Specialist, whom I normally find to be the best value for money agent and only deals in Malta holidays.

I checked on their 2003 and 2004 brochure prices of three five-star and three four-star hotels for a holiday starting on August 11. The five-star hotels showed an increase of 15, 16.5, and 28.5 per cent respectively and the four-star showed an increase of 15, 17, and 18 per cent respectively, for bed and breakfast. The flight for the same dates has gone up 1.4 per cent.

Booking with the hotels direct is also much more expensive than with agents. I have used three of the hotels I compare and checked how their prices compared to booking direct or through an agent.

If the Malta Tourism Authority would kindly furnish me with decent hotels in Malta that are offering reduced prices, I would be grateful.

I would also ask the authorities-that-be to remove their heads from the sand and start looking at real reasons why the tourist numbers are dropping. May I suggest that they look at Holidays Uncovered and get some feedback from tourists.