ADPD on Sunday called for sustainable tourism that prioritises residents, saying Malta has witnessed another summer of overtourism.  

Party Chairperson Sandra Gauci told a press conference in Birzebbuġa that thinking in terms of unlimited growth of arrivals was counterproductive and unsustainable.

She observed that The Malta’s Economic Vision 2021 – 2030 – ‘A Future-Proof Malta’ acknowledged that environmental degradation was no longer an acceptable byproduct of economic success.

She said the current eco-tax, set in 2016, was too low and needed to be revised. It currently stands at only €1 per bed-night, capped at a paltry €5. Proceeds, she said, should go to regional councils and local councils. 

"It makes no sense for these funds to go to MTA which in turn uses them to encourage more and more mass tourism. Local councils and regional councils need these funds to mitigate the effects of mass tourism, to boost their cleaning services, to fund enforcement, and other essential local services."

ADPD Deputy Chairperson, Melissa Bagley, said overtourism favoured the few and led to great burdens on all the rest.

She observed that the 2022 Deloitte Report on the carrying capacity study for tourism in Malta showed that by 2019, the volume of tourism levels was already impacting the satisfaction levels of residents and visitors’ alike.  This was at a time when the number of tourists visiting Malta was around 2.8 million, a number which has since been surpassed.