The social and economic impact of film tourism on the Maltese Islands

Abstract

It has long been realised that there is an association between film and tourism. A substantial amount of research has been carried out on the link between these two industries, and two types of tourist segments emerge from this developed relationship; film productions (as business tourists) and film induced tourists. This research will take Malta as a case study and investigate the social and economic effects of film tourism by looking at the current management of the industry by government stakeholders and the resultant employment of local companies and employees. A number of gaps have surfaced from the results of this study concerning the management of film tourism in Malta including a certain degree of exploitation both from the local workers, organisations and film productions. A number of ideas were suggested on how Malta can make better use of this niche tourism market.