English-language schools have launched a concerted drive for more host families amid concerns that a shortage in what promises to be a record-breaking summer could stifle growth.

More than 77,000 foreign students attended English-language courses last year, a quarter of them in July, and schools are bracing themselves for even greater numbers this year.

With about 60 per cent of them in the over-18 bracket, demand is particularly high for ‘full immersion’ programmes with host families, of whom there are about 1,200 licensed by the Malta Tourism Authority, most booked by students through their schools.

Though schools are accustomed to losing around five per cent of hosts every year, they have found it harder this time to attract new families to replace them or to keep up with the increased demand.

The problem is compounded by many hotels being unwilling to accept block bookings for students ahead of what is expected to be a bumper summer for tourism in general, according to Genevieve Abela, CEO of the Federation of English Language Teaching Organisations Malta (Feltom).

Schools are scrambling because they know they will lose bookings

“Schools are scrambling because they know they will lose bookings if they can’t find host families,” Ms Abela told the Times of Malta.

“Right now, we have an opportunity to take a bigger slice of the global market for English language teaching and a big part of that is immersion programmes. We stand to lose that,” she said.

Feltom, which represents all accredited English-language schools, is working with the MTA to start an education campaign encouraging families to come forward as well as offering possible financial incentives or free training.

While such measures aim to alleviate the situation in the longer term, a number of schools have carried out their own campaigns, targeting host families this summer to cope with the immediate demand.

Ms Abela said the decline was part of a trend linked to an increase in families with smaller houses and two working members. Hosting was more attractive to stay-at-home parents or pensioners with a spare room.

Earlier this year, the Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry criticised the introduction of an eco-contribution for host families, arguing that the tax was dissuading potential hosts from offering accommodation services.

For those able to do it, Ms Abela said, hosting brought a number of benefits: exposing children in the family to new languages and cultures or providing older people with company actively seeking conversation in English, apart from a decent income for minimal investment.

She said there had been very few reports of students causing damage or other problems for host families and most had been effectively dealt with by schools.

Increasingly, schools are also seeking host families in village cores outside the main entertainment hotspots as students, especially older ones, seek a more traditional, immersive experience.

“Malta is the only English-language destination with officially licensed homestays, a unique selling point,” Ms Abela said.

“We also market the fact that most schools offer ‘triple banking’ [allowing students to attend lessons throughout the day] but all that depends on having appropriate accommodation options.

“If we can’t provide that, we risk losing out to other competing countries.”