Fewer than seven per cent of the language students who travelled to Malta since June 1 used their spending vouchers before the scheme was withdrawn by the government.

The vouchers, worth up to €300 for students staying 30 nights, were aimed at generating millions back into the economy.

Students in Malta to study English have been making headlines after a quarter of the COVID-19 active cases were traced back to young people attending language schools.

Amid criticism of the decision to allow unvaccinated students to travel to Malta, Tourism Minister Clayton Bartolo has said it was “in the country’s interest” to push the industry – an important part of the tourism economy – back onto its feet with incentives.

But while some 18,000 students travelled to Malta between June 1 and July 14, the tourism ministry said that just 6.8 per cent of them made use of the government vouchers handed to them to spend anywhere on the island.

This translates into just 1,232 students.

The scheme was withdrawn when the schools were forced to close down by the authorities last week because of the spike in infections. According to a ministry spokesperson, a total of €295,650 were spent through the student vouchers while €2,069,550 were generated in the economy “directly and indirectly” from these vouchers.

“The amount generated in the economy from all students (net of flights and vouchers) is of €17,820,000.”