Goals
The Malta Tourism Strategy is a Plan in which each individual Strategy is defined by a clear Rationale, Objective, Goals and Actions to ensure that deliverables do not remain nebulous but measurable and benchmarkable.
The following is a list of Goals for each of the 22 Strategies, divided into themes.
GOAL 1
To engage with the National Statistics Office for the regular production and publication of a
Tourism Satellite Account for Malta.
GOAL 2
To start benchmarking Malta’s tourism economic performance with comparable international data.
GOAL 3
To widen the dimension of Maltese tourism economic data by developing sectorial and
regional management tools.
GOAL 4
To integrate tourism economic intelligence into planning and decision making systems
undertaken by the Ministry responsible for Tourism and the Malta Tourism Authority
through regular reviews and discussions.
GOAL 1
Positioning Gozo as a distinct international and domestic tourism destination through the creation of a specific branding, market positioning and targeted tourism development plan.
GOAL 2
Identifying the component characteristics of Gozo as a tourism destination so as to incorporate these components into a combined framework to ensure a holistic, unfragmented approach and avoid contradictory actions. The identification of Gozo’s USPs as a by-product of this exercise.
GOAL 3
Formulation of a specific Tourism Development Policy for Gozo as a subset of the island’s overall
Development Policy. The Tourism Development Policy will cover accommodation, other tourism
facilities and attractions.
GOAL 4
Development of a Segmentation Strategy for Gozo including market positioning, prioritized
geographical market and identification of best-fitting motivational segments .
GOAL 5
Identifying and prioritising infrastructural requirements to support Gozo’s tourism development
potential. This will cover aspects such as greener connectivity and transport, heritage protection,
presentation and interpretation, coastal development and the elevation of the ecological and rural
dimension as an integral part of the Gozo tourism experience.
GOAL 6
Fully tapping Gozo’s cruise market potential in terms of its different offer from that of mainland Malta.
GOAL 7
Formulating a Digitisation Strategy for Gozo to maximise tourism opportunities for the island’s tourism sector.
GOAL 8
Improving the measurement of Tourism Activity on Gozo beyond the data sets currently available
through the introduction of more Gozo-specific surveys and studies aimed at capturing the entire
accommodation spectrum and providing a range of quantitative, qualitative, sustainability and socioeconomic indicators.
GOAL 1
To undertake a stocktake of existing Motivational and Geographic tourism sources.
GOAL 2
To establish lifecycle stages of each of the existing motivational and geographic segments.
GOAL 3
To differentiate between rising and declining segments and analyse reasons behind their
status and propose tactics for each.
GOAL 4
Identify new and emerging tourism sources and analyse their suitability for the destination
and devise relevant development strategies for them.
Emerging & Developing Segments
GOAL 1
Undertake a stock-take of the current tourism impacts of each of the identified inter-related
services sectors namely Health and Wellness, Culture including Arts and Entertainment,
Education, Financial services, Sports, Gaming, Aviation and Film Industry amongst others.
GOAL 2
Adapting the experiences of destinations similar to Malta which have successfully maximized such inter-relationships.
GOAL 3
Discussing Goal 1 and 2 findings with relevant stakeholders.
GOAL 4
Devise sector specific strategies in conjunction with each set of stakeholders.
GOAL 1
Take stock of the full set of parameters defining domestic tourism.
GOAL 2
Investigating impacts of domestic tourism flows differentiated by season and destination on the local tourism industry.
GOAL 3
Discuss the holistic picture of domestic tourism and its impacts with stakeholders with a view to devising methods on how to incentivise domestic travellers, ensure that tourism service providers follow up on the advances made during the COVID-19 pandemic and integrate the domestic market as a permanent part of their client mix.
GOAL 4
Collaborate with local councils to create specific events/themes to attract a healthy streamof domestic tourism throughout the year.
GOAL 1
To manage the growth and further evolution of the cruise industry in line with developing
international trends to ensure that Malta remains at the forefront.
GOAL 2
To analyse and thoroughly understand the segmentation of the cruise industry, understand each segment’s specific needs and requirements and select those potential segments best matched with each other. Particular emphasis to be placed on the luxury cruise sector.
GOAL 3
Investigate improved ways of converting cruise passengers visiting Malta and Gozo into
eventual tourists.
GOAL 4
Publicise Malta’s USPs as a sustainable destination to cruise operators to attract them to
make increasing use of the destination.
GOAL 5
Identify new opportunities to maximise returns from cruise passenger activity.
GOAL 1
To holistically investigate air and sea connectivity opportunities in various established,
new and emerging source markets and to use the information to plan Malta’s air and sea
networks in a way which covers the widest possible range of tourism sources.
GOAL 2
To hold discussions with existing and new airlines/shipping companies with a view to rebuild
and grow Malta’s connectivity in line with Goal 1.
GOAL 3
To place emphasis on the establishment of long-lived, sustainable operations in lieu of
short-term ones.
GOAL 4
To increasingly work with air and sea service transport providers operating the cleanest,
most modern and least polluting fleets.
GOAL 1
To identify, compile and present the Brand components of the proposed Malta City Tourism
Brand by emulating best practice from established, successful CITY BRANDS.
GOAL 2
To develop the Malta City Tourism Brand in parallel with and in a complementary manner to the existing Valletta Brand.
GOAL 3
To promote, position and popularise the Malta City Tourism Brand with the relevant stakeholders and target audiences by integrating it in all supply & demand side actions.
GOAL 4
To amend research tools to start measuring the growth and development of the Malta City Tourism Brand in the different markets and provide feedback to marketing agencies and product development initiatives.
GOAL 1
Analyse, research, differentiate and identify different zones on the basis of what distinguishes
them from each other in terms of competitive advantage.
GOAL 2
Research the life cycle of the different coastal localities in view of their predominance in
terms of receptive capacity.
GOAL 3
Establish a link with local food and food production traditions (both from land and from sea) to strongly incentivise the preservation and quality production of local produce and theresulting gastronomic offer.
GOAL 4
Apply the findings of Goals 1 to 3 to produce a Revamped Product Offering Strategy for eachzone in consultation with stakeholders such as Local Councils.
GOAL 5
Explore the creation of soft novel experiences such as low volume, single night stays inalternative land and sea settings such as disused countryside structures, obsolete militaryinventory, fishing vessels etc.
GOAL 6
Actively promote the concept of oneness with nature in the case of zones where the natural/
rural experience emerges as the main brand value through the development of sensitive,
low density, non-intrusive experiences.
GOAL 7
Investigate opportunities to create sustainable luxury tourism ecosystems in low tourism activity zones to increase tourism activity primarily in terms of value rather than volume.
Environment, Climate Change & Tourism Product
GOAL 1
Understand Climate Change impacts on Travel and Tourism. Applying the science to Malta’s
realities. Quantifying the scale and nature of the threat.
GOAL 2
Investigate potential Climate Change impacts on Malta’s coastal amenities, infrastructure, beaches, harbour facilities, residential and accommodation plant, historic towns, waterand power production/ generation, yachting and boating facilities, aquifers, natural hazardincidence and other factors. Creating of a Climate Change Tourism Risk Index.
GOAL 3
Apply the findings emerging from Goals 1 and 2 to form the basis of actions to be undertakento minimise risks, affect protective/preventative measures, plan alternative strategies and draft plans to create future market repositioning accompanied by the relevant product development initiatives to adjust the tourist offer to the new emerging realities.
GOAL 4
Categorise, quantify and locate which aspects of the Maltese tourism industry are most likely to be influenced by climate change.
GOAL 5
Source and investigate international best practice in the different fields in terms of mitigation measures.
GOAL 6
Follow and contribute to international fora discussing Climate Change and Travel and ensure that the small island state perspective is given adequate recognition in discussionsand decision making.
GOAL 7
Work towards establishing Malta as a credible and effective Climate Friendly Travel Destination through an ambitious portfolio of local and international actions.
GOAL 1
Apply international best practice in terms of starting to measure a range of sustainability
indicators based on inputs and experiences from similar sized regions and territories to be
able to start measuring and applying such indicators within Malta’s realities.
GOAL 2
Apply Climate Friendly Travel indicators to encourage destination carbon neutral initiatives covering a range of areas such as transport, tourism operations and infrastructural needs.
GOAL 3
Convert Indicators into Decision making tools.
GOAL 4
Engage in international fora to benchmark methodologies, results and sustainabilityaspirations.
GOAL 5
Actively focus on measures aimed at furthering gender mainstreaming and empowerment in the tourism industry as fundamental components of just, equitable societies. Tourism has already been proven to provide pathways to empowerment, and the opportunity for tourism to make a positive difference in this area should be maximized through the involvement ofthe relevant stakeholders.
GOAL 6
Devise a Sustainable Tourism Charter involving wide stakeholder buyout and application. Such a Charter to inspire a Code of Conduct to provide direction to the manner of conducting tourism operations and activities.
GOAL 1
Create a list of tangible Cultural/Heritage and other attractions in the Maltese Islands
including their protection/preservation status.
GOAL 2
Research existing and former intangible cultural and traditional elements particular to zones or localities in terms of their relevance to enhance local character and diversify offer.To include contemporary culture as manifested through arts and entertainment.
GOAL 3
Tap into the extensive local knowledge of Local Councils, Voluntary Organisations, Tourist Guides and NGOs to compliment Goals 1 and 2 with further inputs and anecdotal evidence.
GOAL 4
Include the Marine Dimension primarily as a distinct, additional zone relating to the territory and secondarily in terms of its specific relevance to each specific zone and locality.
GOAL 5
Publish, Disseminate and Publicise the outcomes of this Strategy to serve as a strongmotivator for the growth of a more sustainable approach to tourism development.
GOAL 1
Set funding priorities for the delivery of the different deliverables in this Tourism Strategy in
terms of timeframes, chronology and order of precedence and sources of funding.
GOAL 2
Follow up on Goal 1 through the devising of Business Plans and Method Statements for each
funding requirement.
GOAL 3
Keep abreast with EU Funding opportunities and instruments in line with the quality, digitalisation, human resource development, sustainable and climate change related thrust emerging from this Strategy. Investigate these opportunities across a wide spectrum ranging from the National to those available to Local Councils, NGOs and commercial entities.
GOAL 1
Create a dedicated Tourism Research and Development capability tasked primarily with monitoring, assessing and adapting leading tourism development trends and innovationsto Malta’s context.
GOAL 2
Maintain an active participation in international fora dealing with sustainability inspired innovation.
GOAL 3
Benchmark progress through the establishment of a Tourism Sustainable Innovation Index.
GOAL 4
Provide information and advice to the Ministry responsible for Tourism, the Malta Tourism Authority and other relevant Ministries and Agencies on international developments and changesto ensure that the country remains at the forefront on sustainable innovative development.
GOAL 5
Organise regular industry events to sensitise, advise and motivate regulators and operators in termsof developments, changes and opportunities relevant to the successful delivery of this Strategy.
GOAL 1
A strong drive will be made to identify illegally operating, unlicenced accommodation by
applying tools used by other jurisdictions in addressing the problem and by working with
online and traditional operators to eliminate the prevalence of such accommodation from
their platforms.
GOAL 2
In 2021, licenced private rented accommodation contributed 3 out of every 10 licenced beds in total tourism accommodation. This figure rises to a much higher share when includingunlicenced beds and owner occupied/private beds used for VFR purposes. Private rentalaccommodation shall be subjected to a greater level of scrutiny and regulation with a viewto ensuring its fitness to and compliance with Malta’s tourism brand promise. Entry levelrequirements for this category of accommodation shall be raised with a view to ensuringthe delivery of an improved level of product and service quality.
GOAL 3
All applications for new or incremental tourism accommodation shall be subject to a more
stringent system including design guidelines that go beyond merely satisfying a checklist
of requirements.
GOAL 4
In recognition of the current available and approved tourism accommodation bed-stockand the focus placed by this strategy on a more selective approach to the development oftourism to Malta based on the principles of higher quality delivery, sustainable development,enhanced tourist satisfaction and minimised host population impacts, there shall be acomprehensive review of the Development Guidelines for Tourism Accommodation as partof Goal 4 of Strategy 22.
GOAL 5
Engage in discussions with the Planning Authority to review and align Development Policies in line with the Strategic Targets.
GOAL 6
Investigate ways of managing tourism accommodation through a lower focus on incremental bed stock coupled with improvement and adaptation of existing accommodation in linewith the destination’s carrying capacity constraints.
GOAL 1
Undertake an in-depth analysis of inbound tourism flows to acquire further insights on
factors influencing tourist satisfaction broken down by socio demographic, motivation,
season and reasons. Build this analysis into an annual index to monitor changes.
GOAL 2
Identify factors negatively affecting visitor satisfaction and produce Action Plan to address them.
GOAL 3
Revisit the criteria of the current MTA Quality Assured Label so as to widen its scope throughthe inclusion of further elements including staff expertise, service levels, sustainablemanagement measures, health, hygiene, housekeeping and delivery of value for money.Work with the Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority for the identification ofthe relevant standards and certification options.
GOAL 4
Introduce Schemes to evaluate the level of quality in the provision of services and facilities provided and aim for Service Excellence across all Tourism Service Providers licenced by MTA.
GOAL 5
To enhance the skills of the MTA Regulatory function and to enhance the enforcementof the standards and classification criteria governing the accommodation rating system. Hotel star rating standards and criteria shall be prioritised.
GOAL 6
Introduce a Self-Assessment/Self-Improvement platform and encourage industry to introduce procedures to keep operations in check.
GOAL 7
Assess the current Compliance methodology and approach used by MTA and focus on strengthening weaknesses and addressing additional areas of operation not being adequately covered through present methodologies.
GOAL 8
Use a combination of Customer Review feedback and Compliance reports regularly, and introduce a system whereby compliant operations are rewarded and non-conforming onesare penalised.
GOAL 9
Constantly follow international best practice and developments in the area of Quality Delivery and update and adapt to local realities.
GOAL 1
Review the possibilities arising from the application of Smart Technologies to Tourism
Management, Service delivery and Marketing.
GOAL 2
Provide a snapshot of current public and private smart digitalisation processes and seek to streamline efforts into achieving an overall Smart Tourism Technology Experience for Improved Tourist and Resident Satisfaction.
GOAL 3
Work towards the eventual submission by Malta as a European Capital of Smart Tourism candidate.
GOAL 4
Link this Strategy with other Strategies relating to Climate Friendly Travel, Sustainability and the delivery of Quality Service.
GOAL 5
Review developments annually in view of rapidly evolving situation.
GOAL 1
Support the Tourism Digital Strategic Roadmap to ensure that it empowers all relevant
public, private and non-profit organisations in investing and maximizing the use of such
technologies.
GOAL 2
Stimulating the provision and supply of a sufficiently skilled and empowered human resource within the entire tourism value chain to ensure that digitalization becomeswidespread in the sector.
GOAL 3
Support the Strategy through the provision of direction for the necessary Investment in Technology and Data Infrastructure.
GOAL 4
Use the structures emerging from the execution of the Tourism Strategy to encourage stakeholders to grow organically as part of an overall plan.
GOAL 1
Identify needs and skills gaps and human resource shortfalls for the different categories of
tourism service provision including accommodation, catering, travel services, guiding and
transportation amongst others.
GOAL 2
Survey existing tourism sector employees to build a profile of their characteristics includingqualifications and/or experience, formal and informal training received, job satisfaction,mobility, remuneration and their views on tourism as a career in Malta.
GOAL 3
Generate a profile of imported tourism labour force in terms of country of origin, training and skills available and nature of work undertaken.
GOAL 4
Survey a cross-section of new labour-market entrants and job seekers to evaluate their attitude towards a career in tourism.
GOAL 5
Carry out campaigns with the private sector to promote careers in tourism, promote the opportunities and rewarding aspects of working in the industry.
GOAL 6
Promote the socioeconomic benefits of the tourism sector to the country.
GOAL 7
Use results from Goals 1 to 4 to formulate an HR Plan for Tourism in conjunction with ITS andother relevant educational organisations and institutions.
GOAL 8
Execute sectoral HR Plan with Stakeholders including ITS, MHRA, ACE, MUTG, FATTA, DMCD,GTA, Chamber of SMEs, Malta Chamber and Jobs Plus.
GOAL 9
Undertake repeat waves of Studies in Goals 1-4 in 2026 and 2029 to monitor developments, changes and emerging issues.
GOAL 1
Engage with the relevant industry stakeholders to identify market needs, developments
and opportunities to be able to identify gaps and limitations in Malta’s current offer. Bring
identified stakeholders together in an ad hoc Working Group to provide further direction in
the execution of this Strategy.
GOAL 2
Investigate and understand international trends and forecasts for the sector and studytheir applicability for the local scene. Study the Convention and Events offer of selectedcompeting and leading destinations within the wider context of location, infrastructuralrequirements, spin-offs, economic and social impacts, transport and connectivity andsupport services.
GOAL 3
Produce a Master Plan for the development of this sector presenting options, development models and relevant forecasts and feasibilities.
GOAL 1
Creating a dedicated structure to manage the Tourism Strategy.
GOAL 2
Elevating the measurement of the Strategy’s implementation to the scrutiny of a multidisciplinary team of advisory stakeholders.
GOAL 3
Creating a dedicated team charged with the publication of quarterly, half-yearly and annual reports for accountability and information purposes.
GOAL 4
Giving Malta its own Tourism Observatory in line with developments elsewhere in Europeand the Mediterranean.
GOAL 5
Convene an Annual National Tourism Conference bringing together the wider set of tourism industry and related stakeholders.
GOALS
Terms of Reference for HR Development Plan
Terms of Reference for Gozo Tourism Plan
Terms of Reference for Geographical Market Plan
Terms of Reference for Accommodation Development Plan
Terms of Reference for Carbon Neutral Plan
Terms of Reference for KPI Formulation Plan including SDGs
Terms of Reference for Segment Development Plan
Terms of Reference for Tourism Events Plan
Terms of Reference for Digitalisation Plan
Terms of Reference for Tourism Economic Impact Measurement Plan
Terms of Reference for Connectivity Plant
Terms of Reference for Product Development Plan including Key Investment Opportunities
Terms of Reference for Domestic Tourism Plan
Terms of Reference for Increasing Brand Footprint through the Regionalization of Territory
Proposed Agenda for National Tourism Conference