Malta beats world averages

The World Tourism Organisation has commended Malta and a number of other Mediterranean countries for their performance in tourism last year, after the island's growth rate far exceeded both EU and world averages.

Addressing a press conference in Madrid, Francesco Frangialli, secretary-general of the WTO, referred to Europe's general performance and said that "only Mediterranean Europe, with the brilliant performances of countries such as Malta, Montenegro, Turkey and Greece, was able to keep pace with the world stage".

Last year, Malta registered a 10.9 per cent growth in tourist arrivals, more than double the rate in the EU, which stood at four per cent. Malta's results were also significantly higher than the world tourism growth rate of 6.2 per cent.

Tourism Minister Francis Zammit Dimech told The Times the results were a just reward for the effort put in by the government.

"This is just another confirmation of how Malta can outperform its competitors when we all work together as a team.

"We agreed on a plan of action with tourism stakeholders and worked together to ensure it was implemented."

According to the WTO, the number of international tourist arrivals - those who arrived in a country other than their own and stayed for at least one night - reached 898 million last year.

World tourism accelerated last year, posting a higher growth rate than in 2006 (5.4 per cent) and 2005 (5.5 per cent).

The Middle East was the region with highest growth (13 per cent) followed by Asia and the Pacific (10 per cent).

Meanwhile, Air Malta also received first-rate results for annual lost baggage figures published by the Air Transport Users Council.

Losing 4.5 bags per 1,000 was the lowest rate of luggage loss among European airlines. The worst performer was Portugal's TAP, losing 27.8 bags per 1,000, followed by British Airways, registering a 26.5 per 1,000 lost bags ratio.