January tourist arrivals have exceeded the 100,000 mark for the first time ever, Tourism Minister Edward Zammit Lewis announced this morning. "After we closed 2016 with just 11,000 short of 2 million tourists – which was actually the target for 2017 – we have reached another record. 104,000 tourists visited Malta in January, meaning that this was the busiest January in Maltese tourism history."
Dr Zammit Lewis was speaking during a visit to the new Malta Tourism Authority offices in Smart City. The bulk of MTA operations relocated to Kalkara a month ago but the authority has retained its Valletta premises and its enforcement branch is still located in Msida.
The minister said these "extraordinary" results should be celebrated. He noted that the difference between January 2017 and January 2016 was remarkable. Revenue increased by around 9% and bed nights increased by around 13%.
"Much was said about Brexit and its effect on tourism. Yet we are seeing these positive results for a month which is highly dependent on the UK market," Dr Zammit Lewis said, adding that there were marked increases in UK arrivals and revenue.
"We have become the least seasonal country in the Mediterranean and the term 'shoulder month' is no longer in our vocabulary. We are getting as many tourists now as we would get in the month of May some years back."
Dr Zammit Lewis was accompanied by MTA Chairperson Gavin Gulia and CEO Paul Bugeja. They toured the different offices, which offer added space, a modern environment and sea views. The three speakers thanked all employees for making the transition look easy and also for the good results Malta was obtaining in the tourism sector.
from The Malta Independent http://ift.tt/2lpN7xU
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