The Mediterranean island-nation of Malta is celebrating a record year for tourism, despite the odds stacked up against it. Official preliminary figures registered the arrival of 1.4 million tourists in 2011, up by nearly 6 per cent over last year's record results and a 12 per cent increase compared to 2009. Cruise liners mooring in Maltese ports have reported an all-time record of 565,000 passengers.
The figures are all the more surprising for the European Union's smallest state of 400,000 people, which started off the year with warnings of doom and gloom. With a national airline on the verge of bankruptcy, the eurozone debt crisis, and Arab Spring uprisings in neighbouring North African countries, Maltese authorities feared the tourism sector would suffer.
"There was a growing perception that the whole Mediterranean region was unsafe, particularly at the time of the Libyan uprising. Yet, Malta's performance remained positive," Tourism Parliamentary Secretary Mario de Marco told dpa. In recent years, the government has been working on a strategy to increase seat capacity and scheduled direct flights to Malta, which rose from 45 foreign airports in 2007 to 75 in 2011. In parallel, the Malta Tourism Authority embarked on a major marketing drive. Tourism accounts for a third of the island's gross domestic product (GDP).
"We made significant investment towards enhancing the visitor experience to our heritage product given that Malta hosts one of the largest concentration of UNESCO World Heritage sites in the world," de Marco said.
Malta boasts some of the world's oldest standing stone temples - including those in Ggantija on the island of Gozo - and the capital Valletta remains largely unchanged since it was built by the Knights of St John in the 16th century. While tens of millions of euros have also been invested in upgrading Malta's ancient attractions, the country is drawing thousands to its cultural events, from baroque music concerts to the annual hip Isle of MTV pop music festival.
Top hotelier Winston Zahra said the country's good tourism results were achieved despite unfavourable economic conditions. Many Maltese hoteliers have seen profits squeezed with hefty domestic energy bills.
"I think that as an island we benefited slightly from the reluctance of people to travel to the politically turbulent North African destinations, which would normally compete with Malta," said Zahra, the Chief Executive Officer for Island Hotels Group. Ultimately, he said, Malta has to capitalise on its key strengths - the English-speaking people, its fascinating history, ease of access, safety, and excellent Mediterranean climate.
Many pin the steady increase in Malta's tourism on the government's strategy to encourage low-cost carriers to operate from new or underserved markets. Ryanair has been operating to Malta for five years and in May 2010 announced a permanent base on the island.
Luis Fernandez, a spokesman for the Ireland-based budget airline, said: "We see similarities to our home territory (Ireland) in that both are small island nations reliant on air access to get on and off with economies reliant on the tourism industry".
He added that the "weak" state of national carrier Air Malta has presented opportunities. Air Malta, which accounts for half of all tourists flying to the island is currently undergoing a major restructuring, which operators hope will secure its future.