“Quality should be the critical element in every link of our tourism value chain. It is not about higher prices and higher revenues but about the delivery of superior experiences for which customers would wholeheartedly be willing to pay.”
On Wednesday, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Tourism Ian Borg highlighted quality and sustainability as the key drivers of the Government’s tourism vision, in his closing address during the 2024 National Tourism Conference, hosted by the Malta Tourism Authority (MTA).
The Conference was held on the same day that the National Statistics Office and the MTA announced that 2024 marked a record year for the Maltese tourism industry, with 19.5% more tourists when compared to the previous year, and a similar record increase of 23.1% in tourist expenditure, reaching €3.3 billion, or €924 per tourist.
Minister Borg welcomed this growth, reaffirming Malta’s strong resilience in its swift recovery from the pandemic-induced crisis. Regional statistics confirm that while Europe registered an average 1% increase in tourists in 2024 in comparison to the 2019 pre-pandemic levels, Malta’s tourism surged by 29% during the same five-year period.
“The 2024 results confirm that our tourism is not only growing in numbers but featuring great strides in the right direction. Our tourists are more evenly spread throughout the year than they have ever been, and they are arriving from more markets and for more reasons than ever before,” Deputy Prime Minister Borg noted, as he commended all stakeholders, including the authorities, the private sector, local communities, and many others, for their contribution to these results.
Commenting on the conference’s theme, “Shaping the Future”, the Deputy Prime Minister stressed that “we stand at an important juncture in our tourism development. We have transformed Malta from a straggler to a leader, directed by a Strategy which places a strong commitment to quality growth and sustainability. However, our tourism strategy is also very clear on the need to constantly rethink in order to revitalise our industry. This objective is facilitated by the fact that we are shaping the future at a time when our tourism is thriving.”
He added that to achieve sustainability in tourism, Malta needs to guarantee long-term returns on investments within a healthy environmental setting and a positive, supportive relationship between hosts and guests, between residents and tourists.
Going forward, the Government will be achieving these objectives through several initiatives. “We shall be addressing establishment classifications and doubling down on those who fail to comply. We will continue placing an emphasis on a better skilled tourism workforce, because hospitality remains the topmost positive feature of the Maltese travel experience,” stated Deputy Prime Minister Borg.
“The Government will also continue improving airline connectivity, to facilitate the attraction of greater shares of lucrative long-haul visitors and the continued expansion of the niches and segments which highlight Malta’s uniqueness. We are setting off from a solid base and have the luxury to work together to strengthen what we want more of at the cost of reducing what we want less of,” concluded Deputy Prime Minister Borg.
Photo: Doi/MFT
