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Brits Push Malta To New Tourism High For 2008
The increase is an impressive ten per cent rise on the 2006 visitors for the same seven months, and the tourist authorities note an increase in visitors from Ireland.
'The figures confirm for us what we already knew', comments one travel guide, 'The launch of low cost flights from Ireland and the UK was always going to mean an increase in visitors from those countries, the only valuable part of the report is the official figure, which shows a healthy increase in the number of people visiting Malta.'
2007 was a turning year for Malta, with previously poor publicity turning to good press reports in the media overseas.
From the UK's Coronation Street filming episodes on the island, to official reports and independent journalists praising Malta as a safe place to visit, plus reduced fares from low cost airlines, the island has seen a real pick up in her tourism trade.
In a survey of 27 European countries by the World Health Organisation for example, comparing the rates of assault and murder, the UN body found that Malta was the second safest country, with Ireland the safest. Least safe were Lithuania and Latvia.
The new report comes in addition to one from an American journalist who last year placed Malta as one of the five safest travel destinations in the world, and a new report from the US just a few months ago confirmed Malta as one of the safest vacation spots in the world.
Commenting on Malta, the report praises the island for the non existence of organised crime, especially surprising perhaps given her proximity to mainland Italy - and closer still to notorious Sicily.
A surprise for many who have driven in Malta is that the report considers the island's roads to be safe. But this is backed up by official EU figures showing Malta has the lowest road related fatalities in the EU.
Last year's report helped to promote Malta's image as a safe destination to potential tourists considering different holiday destinations. Malta ranked as one of the top five locations for safety in the world, according to American travel writer Laura McKenzie.
Much of the increase in visitor numbers for 2007 came about since the Malta government reluctantly agreed to allow low cost airlines to provide cheap flights to Malta from the UK and Ireland, traditionally Malta's strongest market for holidays. The decision to allow the low cost flights came after some time of delay by the Maltese authorities, and was too late to stop a further decline in 2006 of visitor numbers.
Malta's growing reputation as a safe island to visit goes down particularly well in the UK, Malta's strongest market for incoming holiday makers, as the UK has seen an increase in knife and gun crime in her cities.
It bodes well for the summer holiday season this year.
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