Increase in foreign students of English

The number of students who came to Malta to study English last year increased by 18 per cent over the previous year, to 82,000.

Julian Cassar Torreggiani, the chairman of the Federation of English Language Teaching Organisations hailed the positive performance which translates into 5.7 per cent of total foreigners visiting Malta. He said the number of weeks students spent in Malta increased by 25 per cent over 2011.

There was 24 per cent increase in guest nights and the gross operating profit for language school students increased by 86 per cent.

"This healthy performance proves that Malta is continuing to cement its position as a centre of excellence for English Language learning," he said.

The results were in line with the overall results Malta achieved in the tourism industry.

New Malta Tourism Authority chairman, Gavin Gulia, said the English language teaching industry was an important niche market for Malta, with almost 13,000 more students coming to Malta last year. This segment continued to enjoy positive growth. 10 years ago attracted 54,000 and this increased to 82,000.

Former Tourism Minister Mario de Marco was awarded a Feltom award as recognition for his work for the tourism industry.