End of Year Message – Carlo Micallef
December 11, 2025
‘Now is the Time for Difficult Decisions'
The outlook for 2026 is positive, Shadow Minister for
Tourism Dr Mario De Marco, believes—but the worst
mistake Malta could make is to be complacent.
The tourism and hospitality industry in Malta
is now at a critical juncture. Visitor numbers
have been increasing steadily since 2007,
when low-cost carriers first began operating
here. Since then, we’ve seen consistent annual
growth, with arrivals rising from 1 million to 4 million. Over
the past decade, this rise has coincided with a significant
surge in the resident population.
It’s this combined total of residents and visitors that puts
pressure on our infrastructure and services, which in turn
raises important questions about how we maintain quality
of life for residents while ensuring the visitor experience
remains strong.
We need to consider whether it still
makes sense to chase ever-higher numbers, or whether
the smarter approach is to focus on attracting higherspending
tourists. Ultimately, can we do more with less?
To increase visitor spend, we need to improve our product
offering and refine our marketing programmes. That
includes shifting away from the party-island image and
leaning more into the Mediterranean cultural strengths
we can deliver exceptionally well.
We also need to invest
in the right infrastructure to host MICE activities of various
scales, as these typically attract higher-spending visitors.
Looking ahead to 2026, the outlook for tourism is positive.
The priority now is to ensure we give visitors the best
experience possible, because tourism is fundamentally
about experiences.
From next year, Malta will also have
direct connectivity with the United States—a welcome
development that can open up a new stream of business.
To make the most of it, our offering needs to align with the
expectations of the American visitor.
The next 12 months should be used to plan for the second
half of this decade and beyond. The relatively strong
period we’re experiencing—especially in terms of arrivals—
could tempt us to ignore issues that will damage the
industry if left unresolved.
This is the moment to address
those challenges, even if the decisions required may be
difficult in the short term.
What we cannot afford is complacency. This industry
evolves quickly, and competition is unforgiving.
Sitting
back and assuming current momentum will carry us
forward would be a mistake.