Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1546635
10 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 20 SEPTEMBER 2026 OPINION More tourists, more hotels. we attracting the right Charmaine Camilleri A professional with over 30 years experience in the hospitality industry MALTA has never had more tourists. But as accommodation supply continues to grow, the re- al challenge for our 4- and 5-star hotels may no longer be attract- ing visitors. It may be attracting the right visitors, at the right price. Four years ago, when I com- pleted my Master's degree, I chose a subject that was al- ready creating concern within Malta's hospitality industry: Surplus Supply and Decrease in Demand: How Will This Af- fect the Rates of Luxury Hotels in Malta? At the time, the concern was straightforward. What happens when a small island continues to add hotel rooms while de- mand does not increase at the same pace? Four years later, however, the situation has changed dra- matically. Demand has not decreased. It has exploded, in- stead. In 2025, Malta welcomed four million inbound tourists, an increase of 12.9% over the previous year. Tourist nights reached 25.4 million, while to- tal tourist expenditure reached approximately €3.9 billion, ac- cording to data published by the National Statistics Office. So, was my Master's research wrong? Not necessarily. I be- lieve the question has simply changed. The right type of tourist The issue facing Malta's ho- tel industry today is no longer whether we have enough tour- ists. It is whether we have the right type of demand to sup- port the amount and type of accommodation we are contin- uing to build. Malta's tourism success is undeniable. Low-cost airlines have made the island increas- ingly accessible to European travellers, particularly for short breaks and relatively spontane- ous holidays. But accessibility has also changed the consum- er. And this is where the age pro- file of Malta's tourists becomes particularly interesting. The monthly data published by the NSO shows a striking seasonal change in the age pro- file of inbound tourists. In May 2025, the largest age group was 25–44, accounting for 36.3% of tourists, followed by those aged 45–64 at 31.9%. In June, the 25–44 group re- mained the largest at 35.3%. But July and August tell a very different story. In July, 36.1% of inbound tourists were aged 0–24, mak- ing this the largest age group. In August, the proportion in- creased further to 37.1%. Then the pattern changed again. In September, the larg- est group was 25–44, at 35.4%, while in October the largest group was 45–64, at 38.4%. The young summer market There is nothing negative about attracting younger tour- ists; they are an important part of Malta's tourism economy. However, different age groups can have different holiday priorities. Younger travellers may place greater emphasis on price, nightlife and experienc- es, while others may prioritise service, quality, wellness or gastronomy. This is not about stereotyp- ing—a 22-year-old can stay in a luxury hotel just as a 55-year- old can choose an apartment. The point is that different mar- kets have different motivations and potentially different will- ingness to pay. When more than a third of Malta's summer tourists are under 25, we should therefore ask whether peak-season de- mand is always the demand most capable of supporting premium hotel rates. High oc- cupancy does not necessarily mean high-value demand. Tourist numbers and revenue More tourists do not neces- sarily mean more hotel rev- enue. This is perhaps one of the biggest misconceptions in tourism. When we announce record tourist arrivals, every- one celebrates and rightly so. But a hotel manager looks at the market differently. The questions are: How much did the guest pay for the room? How long did they stay? Which distribution channel did they use? How much commission was paid? Did they spend an- ything in the restaurant? And ultimately, how much profit did that guest generate? The industry's focus should gradually move from volume to value. But another major factor is the growth of low-cost avia- tion. Low-cost airlines have been one of the great success stories for Malta's tourism industry. They have allowed millions of people to visit the island at rel- atively low airfares. In 2025, 68.7% of single-cen- tre inbound tourists visiting the Malta region travelled by low-cost airlines, according to the NSO. This does not mean that someone travelling on a low- cost airline is necessarily a low spender. That would be an unfair and inaccurate assump- tion. A traveller might spend €50 on a flight and €1,500 dur- ing a holiday. But from the perspective of a 4- or 5-star hotel, it means the hotel is competing for only one part of that visitor's total holi- day budget. The accommodation supply problem remains This brings me back to my re- search. The surplus supply is- sue has not disappeared. It has evolved. Malta now has con- siderably more tourists, but it also has more accommodation choices. Hotels are competing with hotels, with apartments, with guesthouses, with short-term rentals. And increasingly, they are competing on price and perceived value. The growth in accommoda- tion supply is evident in the official statistics. By June 2025, Malta had 336 active collec- tive accommodation establish- ments with 22,229 bedrooms, compared with 315 establish- ments and 21,164 bedrooms in June 2024. Hotel bedrooms in- creased from 18,612 to 19,405 over the same period. A 4-star hotel has significant costs associated with staffing, housekeeping, maintenance, facilities, service and quality standards. An apartment does not necessarily carry the same cost structure. Yet both may be competing for the same cus- tomer. This creates a difficult ques- tion for the 4-star hotel: How much premium can the market support for hotel service and facilities when alternative ac- commodation is readily avail- able? The 4-star segment is argua- bly caught between two mar- kets. At one end, there is the lower-priced accommodation market. At the other, there is the luxury market. Tourism success is not the problem I am not suggesting that Mal- ta has too many tourists. Nor am I suggesting that low-cost airlines are bad for Malta. Nor