The fines introduced for overcrowding of rental accommodation have “scared” off the market, with bookings sharply down and Carnival in Gozo now looking like any “normal weekend”, according to the Gozo Tourism Association.

The association has received reports of cancellations made by property owners, operators and holidaymakers as a result of the fines that will be imposed for any extra and unlawful guests.

One major company running self-catering accommodation on the sister island says its bookings are down 75% on the same period last year.

The association’s CEO, Joseph Muscat, said it seemed that anyone previously intending to overcrowd properties had changed their minds.

Holiday accommodation owners risk a €2,329 penalty if tenants break COVID-19 rules on large gatherings, while the tenants themselves would be slapped with a €100 fine each.

People caught in overcrowded holiday accommodation will also face being kicked out of the property and relocated.

The measures will be enforced by the police, Malta Tourism Authority inspectors and public health officials.

The new rules are intended to curb the rush of Maltese heading to Gozo for the Carnival holidays this weekend and causing another spike in coronavirus cases similar to that seen after Christmas and New Year.

The measures have been described as “madness” and “insensitive” by operators since they place the burden on property owners, who also have doubts over how the situation can be controlled in real terms.

In many instances, the penalty has been passed onto the guests through contracts that stipulate tenants would have to fork out the fines if they break the rules on accommodation numbers.

Muscat said his association was not against measures and inspections to curb the spread of the virus, and operators were conscious of their health responsibilities.

Holiday accommodation owners risk a €2,329 penalty if tenants break COVID-19 rules

But he questioned why the owners, who did not have absolute control over who entered their property, should carry the burden of what was essentially the tenants’ responsibility.

“What if a farmhouse licensed to sleep six was booked by six guests, but then friends, staying in their own accommodation elsewhere, turned up for a drink by the pool?

“This is what happened in normal circumstances at the weekends before and after Carnival,” Muscat pointed out.

In January, it was reported that accommodation owners were receiving a substantial number of requests for bookings for the February 12-14 weekend, despite the decision to call off carnival celebrations to control the spread of the virus.

But for one company, Gozo Village Holidays, rentals are now down by around 75% over previous years.

Its consultant, Mario Loporto, said last weekend was much busier than the coming one, which could even be considered “worse” than a normal two-day break.

Clients who have still gone ahead with bookings have signed a short-term contract stating they are “responsible for everything”.

The measure has separated the “genuine” lessees – those families simply wanting to enjoy Gozo – from those who opted to cancel because they had the “wrong intentions”, Loporto said.

“We are not concerned about these cancellations,” he said, adding that an empty property was preferable to tenants who caused problems.

But some of the bookings were also dropped because holidaymakers found the contract off-putting and did not want to commit, irrespective of their intentions.

Neither party might want to take on the burden of the fines, Loporto said. Operators were not looking forward to the possibility of taking clients to court to get them to pay up if they broke the contract.

And the fines were considerably higher than the money some operators would earn, so they did not want to risk it.

Properties that rented for €150 a night would only generate €300, compared to the hefty fine of over €2,000.

Loporto said accommodation owners have never entertained the idea of holidaymakers taking advantage and cramming themselves into a property, and have always carried out their own inspections.

Sending partying clients away for being rowdy in the middle of the night on complaints by neighbours was run-of-the-mill and the inspectors would be doing them a favour, he said.

But he maintained that any issues should be settled immediately with the real culprits, with fines raised even further if necessary.

Meanwhile, one operator of holiday villas in Malta is asking prospective tenants for €2,500 deposit in addition to a €500 deposit for any damage caused to the property.

“As you can imagine, we cannot stay at the door of each villa to count the number of guests entering at all times,” the operators have informed guests.

So, the only way to ensure compliance with the new requirement was to ask for a cheque of €2,500.

Their house rules stipulate if the authorities were to fine the owner for hosting more people than the licensed limit, then both deposits would be forfeited.