Local tourism susceptibility to climatic change case study : the Maltese islands

Abstract

Tourism in Malta is one of the main local economic pillars. In 2014, a total of 1,689,809 inbound tourists visited the Maltese Islands, with a total tourist‟ expenditure of €1.5 billion. Indeed, the local agreeable climate is a preeminent tourism motivational-factor. However, due to climate change, the meteorological conditions of the Maltese Islands are expected to deteriorate in the future, particularly during the hot season. As a matter of fact, the mean average temperature of Malta was 18.5ºC for the time-period 1951 – 1980. On the other hand, the mean average temperature of Malta was 19.2ºC for the time-period 1981 – 2010. The frequency of summer heat-waves has also increased. For this reason, this study; which focuses on the possible implications related to tourism trends in Malta in a warming age; was put into effect where several tourists (n=785) were surveyed and their feedback was assessed (CI=9%). Questionnaire data was collected between July 31st and November 27th 2015. Results of this study strongly suggest that Malta‟s tourism industry is susceptible to climate change. However, climate change will likely encourage deseasonalization and thus, shoulder months could become alternative holiday seasons. Future climatic uncertainty inevitably remains a limitation of this empirical study. Nonetheless, this study should serve as a useful, research reference-tool regarding local tourism susceptibility to climatic change.