Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1545896
Andrew Agius Muscat: 'Quality and quantity tourism can co-exist' As the tourism season edges closer to its peak, the debate on its impact on communities, rages on. Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association (MHRA) CEO Andrew Agius Muscat takes a cautious and optimistic tone with Karl Azzopardi 6 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 19 JULY 2026 INTERVIEW THE tourism season is inch- ing its way towards the peak as the perennial debate on quality versus quantity con- tinues. But for Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association (MHRA) CEO Andrew Agius Muscat, the two can cohabi- tate. Quality and quantity can sit side by side as long as there is good management and dis- cipline, he tells me as we sit down for this interview days after videos showed young tourists smashing bottles on the streets in Swieqi. The incident reignited the debate on whether tourism levels have peaked in Mal- ta, and whether the sector is slowly becoming a liability for communities. Agius Muscat agrees the in- dustry is at a crossroads. He says people must be under no illusion that numbers are not needed, warning against con- fusing quality with luxury. "When you speak about quality, you could have tour- ists who book a three-star, four-star hotel. We need a lit- tle bit of everything. Let's not delude ourselves–we need the basic numbers. Forget going back to a million tourists from four million tourists simply because that one million will spend more," he says. To address concerns felt by communities in tour- ism hotspots, Agius Muscat says Paceville's town-centre management committee has worked, and is proposing rep- licating the model at national level. If implemented correct- ly, he argues, it would benefit both residents living in the area, as well as raise the tour- istic product offered by Malta. While stating he does not believe Malta has become a "party island", the hotel lobby CEO says measures like set- ting a curfew on the sale of al- cohol, would help in curbing unruly behaviour in the early hours of morning. On calls for a moratorium on new hotel and accommo- dation developments, Agi- us Muscat says enforcement would be a better route to pursue.