MALTA TOURISM

The Tourism Industry in Malta

The Tourism Industry in Malta

Introduction

Tourism is an important sector for the Maltese economy; it contributes up to about fifteen percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) of Malta. It is overseen by the tourism authorities of Malta, which in turns falls under the responsibility of the tourism minister of Malta, culture, and environment. The islands of Malta features a vast number of tourist attractions which encompasses the elements of the island's rich culture and history, along with the other aquatic activities that associated with the Mediterranean Sea. In addition to that in past few years the area of medical tourism has gained an extensive amount of popularity, especially after the efforts made by the Maltese government to market the practices of medical tourists inside the United Kingdom.

The tourism industry of Malta began to grow in the mid of 1960's, and it continued its growth till the 1970's, with the numbers growing from 170,800 tourists in the year 1970 to 705,500 tourists in the year 1981. However, from the year 1981, these figures started to drop, according to an approximation the numbers dropped to 500,000 tourists per year and it remained the same till the later part of the 1980's. In the year 1990 the upward trend came back again in the tourism industry of Malta. Resulting in an astonishing increase in the number of tourists visiting the islands of Malta, in the mid of 1990's the figures were extremely high; according to the statistics more than 1.2 million tourists visited Malta per year (Boissevain, & Serracino-Inglott, 1997, pp. 265-284).

The precariousness of the tourism industry of Malta depends largely on the trends and the preferences of tourists coming from the United Kingdom, as the tourist from the United Kingdom comprise of a large part of Maltese tourism industry. Although the uniform of use of English as common, close ties to the United Kingdom, and low cost travelling options which are being provided by the Maltese government to the tourists coming from the United Kingdom has made Malta an striking tourism destination for the British tourists. A change in the preference of the British of tourist could have a huge impact on the Maltese tourism industry. A good example of this could simply be explained as the increasing preference of the British tourists for various Spanish destinations in the 1980's, resulted in a major setback for the Maltese tourism industry, so much so that the figures dropped to 500,000 tourists per year (Mitchell, 1996, pp. 199-219).

Discussion

The Republic of Malta consists of an archipelago of three islands in the Mediterranean. These are located just south of Sicily. Malta consists of the main island of Malta, Gozo and Comino and two uninhabited islands, namely Cominotto and Filfla. Maltese islands are treeless and consist of flat limestone panels that in the geological past formed a land bridge between Sicily and North Africa. The highest level rises about 258m above sea ...