The tourism industry has to 'unite' as it did during the 2006 low-cost airlines debate and decide whether it wanted to continue to increase the number of tourists or provide better quality tourism, Gavin Gulia said on Wednesday.
“I believe that 2006 was a watershed year for the industry… and since the introduction of low-cost carriers, the growth in the number of tourists has been phenomenal.
“We might have reached another watershed moment: do we want more volume, better quality, or a bit of both," the Malta Tourism Authority chair asked a business event marking 10 successive years of record tourism growth.
The meeting heard of an increase in the number of tourists from 1.33 million in 2010 to 2.75 million in 2019.
The number of overnight stays in 2019 meanwhile increased by 4% over 2018 to reach 19.3 million nights.
The figures show that Malta hosts an average daily tourist population of 53,000 over and above the number of residents.
In his address, Dr Gulia said that the MTA often received mixed or contradictory feedback from the industry.
He urged for "clarity from the industry".
"We were successful in harnessing tourism from 2006 onwards, and I’m confident that we’ll be able to do it again.
"What we want is clarity: you were right back then, and we want to hear from you again. We value your suggestions," he added, noting that the authority had commissioned a study to be able to draw up a vision for the coming years.
Addressing the same event, Tourism Minister Julia Farrugia said that no matter the challenges, such as the current global coronavirus threat, Malta had to continue moving forward when it came to tourism.
The island, she added, had to act rapidly and diversify its product.
Tourism in numbers
In 2019 Malta attracted 2.75 million tourists - an increase of 155,000 visitors over 2018.
Overnight stays increased by 4% over 2018 to reach 19.3 million nights.
Average length of stay for tourists visiting Malta dropped to seven nights from 8.3 nights in 2010.
Tourist expenditure exceeded €2.2 billion, compared to the previous record high of €2.1 billion in 2018.
Over 1.7 million tourists, or 62% of total visitors stayed at hotels.
