Too far gone? : measuring the tourism attractiveness of Malta's most rural localities

Abstract

As with many popular European tourist destinations, Malta has increasingly been impacted by the negative consequences associated with mass tourism. Given the country's small size and high pressure on land-use, it has been particularly vulnerable to these effects. In response, the country is seeking to shift towards alternative forms of tourism that support more manageable growth and a sustainable tourism market. One such form is rural tourism, yet the potential for Malta to be an attractive rural tourism destination remains under-explored. This research selects the two most rural localities on the country’s main island and evaluates their attractiveness as rural tourism destinations. Localities are selected by constructing a continuous rurality index for the island. The two most rural localities are identified as L-Imġarr and Ħad-Dingli. A hierarchical Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) model is developed to assess rural tourism attractiveness through expert evaluation. Experts rank the importance of the model variables and score them for each locality. The variables are weighted according to the rankings, and the scores are then combined to produce an overall attractiveness score for each locality. L-Imġarr outperforms Ħad-Dingli, receiving consistently high scores across all categories. Ħad-Dingli, while scoring lower overall, excels in categories related to its natural resources. Based on these findings, recommendations are provided for tourism planners and policymakers.