1. Background
The National Tourism
Policy launched in 2015, expired at the end of 2020. Work on a new Strategy
started in 2019 and the target was to launch a new and updated strategy
document early in 2020. The plan was
however disrupted when COVID 19 struck the world and overnight ground to a halt
the travel and tourism industry in Malta and worldwide.
In this context, a
decision to formulate an updated Tourism Strategy that would outline
Government’s long term vision for tourism development up to 2030 whilst at the
same time consider the recovery of the sector from the damage done by the COVID
19 pandemic.
The
document being published for public consultation, is intended to present the
key elements of Malta’s Tourism Strategy for the period 2021-2030. This
strategy is built on a three-staged premise:
- A recovery effort from the chaos wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic, focused
on protecting and preserving the vital components of Malta’s Visitor Economy in
the background of the challenges posed by the pandemic.
- A longer-term re-evaluation and repositioning to reflect evolutionary
forces as well as new post pandemic realities – both negative and positive.
- A detailed and committed programme of deliverables covering the
various strategic challenges addressed by this strategy with a view to being
able to deliver a stronger, more sustainable and competitive tourism industry
by 2030.
The
Document aims to form the basis of a wide discussion with the scope of
providing the Maltese Tourism Industry with a sound platform from which to
recover the losses inflicted by the COVID-19 pandemic whilst taking decisive steps
to strengthen Tourism’s economic and social awareness and sensitivity and a
quest to grow Tourism’s contribution beyond mere volumes by attracting a higher
spending tourist: a tourist who appreciates those authentic, quality
experiences which the destination is capable of offering. This will lead to a
Maltese Tourism Industry which is built on stronger foundations based on the
principles of sustainability.
It
recognizes the changing international trends, seeks to equate a higher quality,
diverse Maltese tourism offer with what travellers shall be seeking in the
coming years and addresses challenges in areas ranging from service delivery
and human resource requirements, accommodation mix, connectivity, facilities
and digitalisation to embracing the Sustainable Development Goals and
addressing Climate Change. It seeks to equate enhanced visitor satisfaction
with agreeable host population tolerance.
It
recognizes that Malta’s tourism offer is a combination of supply and demand-based
initiatives. As a result, the Strategy shall harness the opportunities arising
during the post-COVID interlude to propose the best possible ways to reassess
Malta’s tourism model, guide investment opportunities and continue the process
of enhancing the quality dimension of Malta’s tourism offer not only by
addressing the physical product but also through the further development of the
human resource element.
The input from this public consultation shall contribute to the
finalization of the ten-year Malta’s Tourism Strategy early in 2021 following
which work will start on its delivery together with all stakeholders.
2. Documents
Malta Tourism Strategy 2021-2030.pdf
Help viewing documents
3. Submission of input
Submissions were received by 8 March 2021.
We thank you for your input.