Cultural events and their contributions towards the Maltese tourism industry

Abstract

Events are one of the many sectors within the tourism industry that generate particular benefits for a destination. Contributions can be both economic and social. The tourism industry has become an essential economic pillar for destinations. In fact, some destinations rely heavily on tourism since it generates substantial income. Three events are examined closely in this study, along with their contribution to the Maltese Island. The Valletta Baroque Festival, the Malta Dance Festival, and the Malta Jazz Festival serve as case studies. The primary conclusions of this study are that such cultural events have an economic and social impact. They attract a substantial amount of tourists, who spend money on a variety of necessities, such as on accommodation. Such cultural events influence the decision-making process of a prospective visitor. The Valletta Baroque Festival also helps to attract tourists during the low season and this benefits Malta financially. Moreover, visitors coming for the event get a favourable impression of Malta and are persuaded to return. Data was acquired using both qualitative approaches, with interviews done with entities involved and quantitative methods through a survey distributed to visitors of the three events. Consequently, the mixed method approach was adopted for this research. It is clear that such events contribute significantly to the tourism industry and can be considered of benefit to a destination. Therefore one can conclude that cultural events should be supported and promoted by the national authorities and agencies.