Added 14 February 2023
2.3 million tourists visited the Maltese Islands in 2022. These numbers in visitor arrivals are 83% of the levels we had in 2019. Significantly, in terms of volumes, in 2022 the Polish, Austrian, Italian and French markets surpassed the numbers of 2019, the same year that Malta recorded a record in tourism. 2019.
2019 | 2022 | |
Poland | 104,228 | 143,229 |
Austria | 33,251 | 36,497 |
France | 239,140 | 258,372 |
Italy | 392,955 | 398,198 |
These are satisfactory results that should be taken in the context of a tourist year during which movement was restricted in the first four months of the year due to the impact of the Omicron variant on travel. At the same time, the volume of tourists experienced in the mentioned year left an income of €2 billion in the Maltese economy.
These figures came out in a presentation made by the Malta Tourism Authority with the theme ‘Tourism 2022 – A Steady Recovery’ addressed by the Minister for Tourism Clayton Bartolo.
Minister Bartolo stressed how these results symbolize the deep resilience of the local hospitality sector in challenging times. He added that the next step is to build a tourism sector based more on sustainability.
“Sustainability is a necessity not an option. We need to understand this principle more than ever. This means that we have tourism that visits our country over a whole year which directly leaves a positive environmental impact especially with the reduction in emissions in the touristic activity,” concluded Minister Clayton Bartolo.