Images of anarchy from Britain have prompted some Maltese travelling there to question whether tours are still happening and if flights to London are operating.
No trips were cancelled and one travel agent pointed out that the riots were really pockets of violence, magnified by the media.
The riots, which broke out on Saturday after a peaceful demonstration over the police shooting of a man turned violent, with widespread looking and arson.
The violence continued and, on Tuesday night, spread to other cities, including Manchester, Salford, Liverpool, Nottingham and Birmingham, where three men aged 31, 30 and 21 died when they were hit by a car.
Britain was, however, calm last night thanks to a heavy police presence and the rain.
Hamilton Travel, which has a group of Maltese on its Lake District tour, reported a calm situation there.
Another group left for London today, unfazed by the daunting footage on TV screens, and the Grand Tour of the UK was still happening on August 24, said managing director Norman Hamilton.
“Our reasoning is that unless we are informed by the Foreign Affairs Ministry that it is not safe to travel, we do not cancel tours. The truth is we are talking about pockets of trouble that are inflated by the media,” Mr Hamilton said.
Euro Tours was also asked if flights to London would be cancelled but reassured callers that it would not be the case. The trouble moved to Manchester and Birmingham and a group of 50 was leaving for London tomorrow, said marketing and sales manager John Busuttil.
Meanwhile, the Malta High Commission in London was open for business as usual yesterday after closing 30 minutes earlier than usual on Tuesday on Metropolitan Police advice because rioters and looters were expected to descend on Piccadilly at 5 p.m.
Many businesses all over London had been closed since 2 p.m., the High Commission said.
“At the time of closure, no members of the public were at the Mission and staff put up notices of after-hours duty mobile numbers, both for consular assistance and for medical patients receiving treatment in the UK. On Tuesday evening, officers continued to offer assistance to Maltese nationals on matters unrelated to the riots, via the telephone, until late in the evening,” it said.
“So far, there have been no reports of violence and clashes between rioters and the police in the capital (at the time of writing yesterday) but tensions remain high,” the High Commission said.
Malta High Commissioner Joseph Zammit Tabona said that “as a result of the large number of police stationed around London, things seem to have quietened down quite dramatically. Some rioters are already being prosecuted and anyone caught being involved in violence will be sent to pri-son”.
Until yesterday afternoon, the Met Police had made 685 arrests and Prime Minister David Cameron said every action would be taken to restore order, with contingency plans for water cannon to be available at 24 hours’ notice.
Jes Camilleri, who lives just a mile away from the Clapham Junction rioting, said it was scary to see the images on TV.
“I have never felt threatened and apprehensive in London but I feel the public’s trust in the power of the police to contain such acts has taken a severe knock and I hope the situation returns to normal soon,” he said.
“I remember hearing about the Brixton and Toxteth riots in the 1980s when I was a teenager and those events inspired much of the music that formed the soundtrack of my youth. These riots, unfortunately, are nothing but mindless and opportunistic criminal acts and I have zero sympathy for the thugs involved.”