Tourism has grown by 16 per cent over the past five years, with records reached across the board, including in expenditure, guest nights and hotel performance.

Tourism Minister Mario de Marco showed how records were reached in four of the past five years, with an increase of more than 200,000 tourist arrivals last year when compared with 2007, itself a record year.

It was only in 2009 that records were not reached and that was when Malta’s main tourism markets suffered the effects of an economic downturn.

Tourist arrivals reached 1.44 million in 2012 compared to 2007’s 1.24 million.

Dr de Marco acknowledged that news of records was starting to get repetitive noting, however, that “these are the facts”, adding that this year saw eight consecutive record months.

But just how were the results achieved?

Most of the success is attributed to an increase in scheduled air routes, from 57 in 2007 to 81 in 2012. “Airlines are coming to us to open new routes rather than us having to go to them,” he said, pointing out that more routes had already been added this year.

Marketing efforts have also become more strategic. Instead of two months of intensive advertising in newspapers after Christmas, the Malta Tourism Authority is now spending 25 per cent of its budget on online marketing throughout the entire year.

“People are nowadays booking two weeks before their holidays,” said Dr de Marco.

The third reason for the success in tourism is the investment in embellishing the product, ranging from upgraded beaches to Valletta’s entire facelift.

“Tourists can now come for a weekend break in January and enjoy the sites in Mdina, Valletta and the Three Cities,” said Dr de Marco, adding that the island’s campaigns had also shifted in focus from marketing the island as a sun and sea destination.

Although hoteliers often complain that tourism records do not trickle down to their pockets, Dr de Marco showed how expenditure, performance and occupancy rates had all hit records.

Hotel occupancy rates ranked second in Europe according to a survey by STR Global, an independent ranking company.

Expenditure on directly booked accommodation last year increased by €61.8 million compared to 2007 and other spending grew by €143 million.

The benefits were shared among three-, four- and five-star hotels, with all of them making the highest amounts of profit over the past five years in 2012, according to a survey by the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association.

Dr de Marco said there were “positive” signs for this year, though experience taught him that “there is no time to blink” because Malta must keep responding to the changing industry.

He pointed out that cruise line business also reached record levels in 2012, with an estimated 607,000 passengers landing on the island.

These, he said, were not included with the tourism figures issued by the National Statistics Office, meaning that they must be added to 2012’s estimated 1.4 million arrivals by air.

Israel arrivals up 2,380 per cent

Malta attracted more than 50,000 tourists from Israel over the past two years compared to 1,000 or so Israelis who used to visit annually back in 2007.

Dr de Marco explained that Malta launched a concerted effort to attract Israeli tourists when tensions arose between Israel and Turkey, a traditional holiday destination for Israelis. The effort paid off, with a growth of more than 2,380 per cent last year when compared with 2007.

More than 30,800 Israelis visited Malta in 2011 and 25,500 last year.

This was one example given by Dr de Marco of how the island reacted to strategic opportunities.

The number of Italian, French and Spanish tourists grew by 76, 44 and 63 per cent respectively over the past five years, he said.

The crisis in North Africa did not affect Malta massively, he said, because people who travelled to Tunisia and Egypt generally opted for all-inclusive resorts that are uncommon in Malta. Only the Seabank Hotel now offered such types of holidays, he said.

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