Malta received 2.3 m int'l visitors in 2022

Last year, the number of tourists who chose Malta as their destination increased to 2.3 million, which translates into 83pc of the pre-pandemic total in 2019.

Interestingly, in terms of volumes, the Polish, Austrian, Italian and French markets surpassed the numbers of 2019, when Malta received the highest number of tourists ever.

Describing the results as satisfactory, tourism minister Clayton Bartolo said these should be taken in the context of the Covid restrictions in the first four months of 2022.

Noting that tourism generated some €2 billion in 2022, Bartolo said the results are testament to the Maltese tourism sector’s resilience, adding that the next step is to create a tourism sector based on sustainability.

“Sustainability is a necessity not an option. We need to understand this principle more than ever. This means that we have tourists that visit our country over a whole year which directly leaves a positive environmental impact especially with the reduction in emissions in the touristic activity,” Bartolo said.

-B