An exploration of sustainable tourism practices in Malta

Abstract

Considering that tourism brings a major economic growth for many destinations as well as list of impacts - both positive and negative, the implementation of sustainable tourism appears to be a challenge worldwide, including Malta. To meet the needs of the current generations without compromising those of the future ones might be easier to say than to be actually done. Malta is facing a phenomenal increase in visitors’ numbers every year and that is undoubtedly affecting the country in various ways. The word sustainability is being used profoundly, however, the implementation of all that is being said is doubtful. The aim of this research is to explore the sustainable tourism practices in Malta and their effectiveness. In addition, the importance of sustainability, the key stakeholders as well as the process of management required will be identified. In order to achieve that, a qualitative research will be conducted through the use of interviews with key individuals that would provide a significant insight into the topic. The analysis of the results showed that even though sustainability appears to be of uttermost importance for Malta, there is still much more that has to be done and a common issue is the short-termism. The politicians and the businesses were identified as key stakeholders and the issues of limited implementation of theoretical studies on sustainability and the prioritisation of economic benefits were among the most discussed challenges for sustainable tourism in Malta. Even though there are certain ideas and strategies for implementation of sustainable tourism practices, it appeared that most of them are simply a lip service and Malta still has a long way to go until it becomes a sustainable destination.