Hotel, restaurant standards under scrutiny

Over the past 12 months, the Malta Tourism Authority instituted 49 legal actions against operators who failed to maintain standards and dished out over Lm7,000 in fines.

A total of 273 complaints have been made to the MTA's enforcement directorate so far this year, ranging from shortcomings in accommodation and timeshare hounding tactics to two cases of alleged assault. There were 400 complaints last year.

The authority has even been forced to close down a two-star hotel and a three-star hotel for repeatedly falling short of the required standards.

Enforcement director Frank Farrugia said food and accommodation standards were coming under closer scrutiny than ever.

The directorate was set up two years ago to enforce regulations and standards in the tourism sector. It also assesses tourism operations prior to a licence being issued by the product planning and development directorate.

Most complaints are directed at the hotel sector, while others target the catering business. Food hygiene and airconditioning are among the sources of complaints.

Each hotel has to comply with about 200 regulations and is inspected twice a year. During an inspection everything from the water tanks to the back-of-house facilities are examined.

The majority of hotels, especially those in the five-star sector, bend over backwards to ensure standards are adhered to. Normally, however, the lower the star rating, the more corner-cutting there is, Mr Farrugia said.

The directorate carries out about four surprise inspections every day, following which the MTA inspectors and establishment owners discuss any shortcomings.

When basic requirements are lacking, the MTA calls for immediate action and issues a fine on the spot, varying between Lm500 and Lm1,000. If fines are not paid within three weeks, legal action is instituted and penalties can reach Lm10,000, especially for a second offence.

Over the last year seven catering establishments were penalised for operating without a licence, two language schools were taken to court for being an accomplice to unlicensed host families and four for organising excursions without a guide.

Only last month, a Gozo hotel was fined Lm1,000 for falsely upgrading its star category in an advert and for obstructing MTA inspectors.

Mr Farrugia pointed out that legal action was not a money-making business since administrative costs normally exceeded the revenue from fines.

He explained that the MTA was fully aware of those individuals who merely lodged a complaint in an attempt to get their money back. Still, the directorate investigated every one.

Mr Farrugia said that one of the biggest problems concerned illegal timeshare touts who were fooling tourists into believing they had won a prize through scratch-cards and in the process duping them into buying timeshare.

Inspectors, in fact, sometimes have to work undercover, especially where illegal timeshare touts are concerned.