We had the bad news that TripAdvisor did not include our island in the Top Islands in Europe.

Some of us were shocked but I was not. I have now been back in Malta for seven years and I have got used to all that is good and bad in it. However, if you are here for eight or 10 days you look out for the very best.

I’m afraid, Malta has lost the bridal blush it used to have. Cranes tower towns and villages more numerously than the lovely domes and steeples of the churches: it is dusty everywhere and the dry weather does not help.

And what about the roads? I have just come back from an errand in Buġibba and it is a wonder our car is still in one piece.

Please, let’s stop counting the high numbers. Most visitors who come here had no option because of the Isis trouble. We want people, a lot of them, to keep coming back and not return back home saying never again.

Let us all do our very best to improve the state of the island. Some areas look as bad as some poor Middle East village or Indian back roads.

We have a very able and clever Minister of Tourism but, much as he wants to, he cannot do everything by himself. Why not have a round table conference with members of the government, the Opposition and business people throwing their two-penny worth of what they think can be done?

Tourism is the best and cleanest way of earning a living for a good majority of the workforce.