Residents across Malta and Gozo are to be asked about their views on the impact of tourism on their lives.

The Malta Tourism Authority (MTA) has issued a call for tenders to carry out a survey of 600 people in June. The authority has estimated the cost of the survey to be at around €10,000.

Residents will be asked if they agree with a series of positive and negative statements on topics including whether respondents benefit economically from tourism to whether it causes crowding in bathing spaces. 

And while the MTA has not indicated how the findings of the survey will be used, it comes at a time of heightened concern about mass tourism across the continent.

A record three million tourists visited Malta in 2023, according to the MTA, with 40% of visitors coming from Italy or the UK. 

According to the call issued on Thursday, the successful applicant will “carry out a study for the MTA to better understand the residents’ perceptions and attitudes towards tourism activity on the Maltese Islands.”

What will residents be asked?

A provisional set of questions issued with the call sheds light on the topics the authority is interested in.

Residents will be asked to indicate how strongly they agree or disagree with statements such as: “Tourism makes me want to work to keep the Maltese Islands special”, “Tourism helps me pay my bills” and “Tourism fosters a sense of 'community spirit' within me”.

Residents are expected to be asked if they think tourism helps preserve the country’s heritage and environment, whether it worsens traffic issues and causes overcrowding.

And they are also likely to be asked whether Malta should remain a tourist destination, if the country should aim to attract more tourists and whether “the positive benefits of tourism outweigh negative impacts”.

A final set of questions will be supplied to the winning bidder when the tender is concluded.

Tourism is an important economic driver in Malta and has regularly been touted as a measure of the country’s success by various governments.

Venice introduced a €5 entrance fee as part of a strategy to combat overtourism. Photo:AFP

While the government has indicated it wants to attract more “quality tourism” and higher-spending visitors, other parts of Europe have recently tried to stem the tide of visitors, concerned that mass tourism is overly impacting residents.

Last year, Sardinia introduced a cap on the number of visitors to its pristine beaches, while Venice recently introduced a €5 fee for day-trippers visiting the famous city.

In July, Amsterdam banned cruise ships from entering the city centre in a bid to curb visitor numbers and pollution. The same month, Dubrovnik in Croatia introduced an educational ‘Respect the City’ campaign and Portugal introduced fines of up to €36,000 for playing loud music at popular beaches.

When contacted, a spokesperson for the Tourism Ministry said the results of the survey would help the MTA "to form an opinion, plan and formulate future strategy."

He said the survey was being undertaken as part of the government's 2021-2030 strategy and as part of the activities of the Malta Tourism Observatory "aiming at developing a sustainable tourism industry for the future."