Tourism in Malta least impacted by seasonality in EU

Malta’s a year-round destination for tourists. While July and August are the busiest months of the tourism industry’s year, Malta is far less dependant on those two months than most of the EU, news which Tony Zahra, president of the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association (MHRA) hailed as “fantastic”.

The report analysed the number of nights spent in tourism accommodations in July and August 2022.

The two months in question captured 25.4 per cent of all nights spent by tourism in Malta. While still significant, the report found that tourism in Malta tends to be more spread out throughout the year than in any member state.

On average, within the EU, a third of all nights spent by tourists for the year were within July and August. In Croatia, the figure goes further and exceeds half of all nights spent.

Commenting on these figures, Mr Zahra told this newsroom, "it’s fantastic news for Malta. Tourists aren't coming here just for the summer but they're coming year-round."

"If you go to one of these places where is there a tremendous influx in July and August, in the winter period they’re all closed down. So it turns it into a high season destination only," added Mr Zahra.

He shared an anecdote from a visit he had in Crete, Greece.

"Operators told me they only work for six months of the year, when I asked what do they do for the other six months, they said they cut olives."

The fact that Malta has a relatively consistent stream of tourism year-round is important, as Mr Zahra explained that it provides the industry with work for all 12 months of the year.

Asked whether this was a recent phenomenon he said, "In Malta it has evolved over time, we always had winter traffic."

"However in the last 15 – 20 years this evolved to delivering a strong number of arrivals during the winter season."

He added that MHRA has been working very hard to ensure that arrivals are level throughout the year. On average this means that during off-peak seasons, the share of nights spent by tourists adds up to 7.46 per cent per month.

This is more than half the share of nights spent by tourists in either July (12.1 per cent) or August (13.3 per cent).

Having a relatively low dependence on seasonal tourism reduces the dependence on seasonal workers, which alleviates pressure from the industry in finding and training enough workers once the peak season arrives.