Four of the five past years have been record years, with arrivals peaking at 1,443,762 in 2012 – an increase of 200,000 arrivals when compared with 2007, itself a record year.
Tourism Minister Mario de Marco gave an overview of the past five years this afternoon, where he pinned Malta’s success onto increased airline routes, an improved product and more strategic marketing.
He showed how records were reached across the board: more arrivals, longer stays, higher tourist expenditure and better hotel performances.
Malta’s hotel occupancy rates ranked second in Europe according to a survey by STR Global, an independent ranking company.
Dr de Marco also said there were “positive” signs for this year, though experience taught him “there is no time to blink” as Malta must keep responding to the changing industry.
One of the main reasons for Malta’s success was that 2007’s 57 scheduled routes increased over the years to 81 routes in 2012.
Meanwhile, Malta Tourism Authority went from spending three per cent of its budget online (in 2007) to dedicating a quarter of it to non-traditional media in 2012.
Marketing was also focused on Malta as a year-round holiday destination as opposed to the traditional sun, sea and sand advertising of the past.
Various projects to embellish Malta, including Valletta’s makeover and the upgrading of beaches around the islands, have also helped to improve the destination.
Dr de Marco also gave an overview of the way several markets have grown in the past when Malta took advantage of strategic opportunities.
Italian, French and Spanish tourists grew by 76, 44 and 63 per cent respectively over the past five years.
But the best example of a growing market was Israel which grew by more than 2300 per cent.
In 2007, Malta had attracted just over 1,000 tourists from Israel – a figure which grew to 30,000 and 25,500 in 2011 and 2012.
Dr de Marco attributed this to a concerted effort to attract Israeli tourists when tensions exploded between Israel and Turkey, a traditional holiday destination for Israelis.
The Tourism Minister pointed out that cruise business also reached record levels in 2012, with an estimated 607,000 cruise passengers.
These, he said, were not included with the tourism figures by the National Statistics Office, meaning that they must be added to 2012’s estimated 1.4 million arrivals by air.