Tourism

Are the number of daily tourists increasing?

Tourist numbers have fluctuated considerably since 1975, although the overall trend is one of growth; while five million tourist days were registered in 1975, there were 10.9 million in 2004.

The number of incoming tourists in 2004 was 2.7 times the population. Given that in general tourists use 1.5 times more resources in terms of land, water and energy, and produce more waste than locals, this represents significant additional pressure on the environment. In the Carrying Capacity Assessment for Tourism it is indicated that average daily number of tourists should not exceed 45,000 in order to be at a socially acceptable level.

The local tourism industry is characterised by significant seasonality patterns, with the summer months, particularly August, undergoing the highest pressure. Despite the cyclical trend, average daily number of tourists in August is consistently significantly higher than the annual average, and often exceeds the 45,000 threshold.

The State of the Environment Report 2005 is a Mepa publication available on www.mepa.org.mt.