MTA Announces 2023 End of Year Tourism Results: Writing History Together

The Maltese Islands have successfully recorded over three million visitors in 2023. This is a milestone in terms of the local tourism industry.

The results were released by the National Statistics Office earlier this year with figures representing what was achieved during the full calendar year of 2023. It has been a truly positive recovery for the tourism sector in Malta.

The results were announced by the Malta Tourism Authority during the event Writing History Together that took place on the same day the tourism figures were released.

Honourable Minister for Tourism and Public Cleanliness Clayton Bartolo introduced the conference with an opening remark on the rapid recovery of the tourism industry.

In less than three years, the efforts of the Ministry for Tourism, the MTA and key tourism stakeholders brought the local tourism industry back to the pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels, which in turn also exceeded to new record ones.

In fact, an increase of over 8% was noted over the previous record year of 2019. This success was all due to the work being done in diversifying the tourism markets, in providing a tourism product that caters to a larger range of visitors’ ages and demographics, and in offering more reasons to visit Malta and Gozo.

The strategy for this record success was driven mostly by acquired data, tourism trends, and by consistent overseas marketing and branding. MTA CEO Mr Carlo Micallef discussed that visitors from Malta’s main tourism markets are more inclined to visit the Islands to explore our culture and to enjoy the Islands’ warm climate.

For the past year, these reasons had been assisted by various marketing campaigns set by the MTA in strategic locations around Malta’s tourism market countries.

Besides MTA’s marketing, the Ministry for Tourism and MTA aimed to preserve our cultural heritage and enrich the public areas that are enjoyed by locals and tourists alike. Such instances are restoration works on historical landmarks, the regeneration of village squares around the Islands, and beach management.

As a result, an increased number of applications of MTA-licensed establishments was recorded in catering and accommodation due to a greater demand in tourism.

Moving forward, the focus will be as MTA Chairman Dr Gavin Gulia announced, to rethink and revitalise elements of our Tourism Strategy whilst retaining our present achievements.

The industry is aware that there will be obstacles to overcome, such as climate change and the overall balance of supply and demand. The way ahead will not be predictable in what challenges it may bring.

Nevertheless, there will still be ongoing effort to keep abreast with the upcoming tourism trends in the months and years to come, to sustain and improve Malta's tourism product.

The Ministry for Tourism and the Malta Tourism Authority will remain committed to deliver the best for the tourism industry to support the economy, the people’s quality of life, and environmental sustainability for generations to come.