Three plane loads of tourists who originally planned to go to Tunisia were brought to Malta last week because of the turmoil in the North African country, Mario de Marco, the Parliamentary Secretary for Tourism said yesterday.

Dr de Marco was reacting to criticism during a radio phone-in programme in which a caller accused the Malta Tourism Authority of doing nothing to capitalise on the situation in Tunisia, a major destination in the Mediterranean.

Dr de Marco said nobody liked to hear of trouble in neighbouring countries but denied the MTA was doing nothing, pointing out that tourists booked for Tunisia with a major UK tour operator were instead brought to Malta last week on three planes.

All competing destinations, including Spain and Turkey, were seeking to attract tourists who would have had to cancel their holidays because of the trouble in Tunisia.

However, the tourists who went to Tunisia were, in many cases, different from those who visited Malta. Such tourists usually booked all inclusive holidays in Tunisian resorts at rock-bottom prices. Did Malta want to go down that road? Dr de Marco asked.

Meanwhile, Malta International Airport yesterday announced a 12.8 per cent increase in passenger movements in 2010 over the previous year.

The number of passengers at MIA reached a record 3.29 million.

Aircraft movements rose also to stand at 28,936, a 10 per cent increase over the previous year, while seat capacity increased by 10.6 per cent.

MIA’s main markets last year were the UK, with a share of 31.4 per cent, which translate to just over one million passengers, followed by Italy and Germany, with 19.5 per cent, or some 642,000 passengers, and 12.8 per cent, or about 422,000 passengers.

Last month, passenger movements reached 174,630, the highest ever for the last month of the year. The rise in passenger movements, when compared to the same month last year, marked a 10.6 per cent increase.