Malta International Airport will see 7.2 million people pass through its doors by the end of 2019, should forecasts prove correct, after close to 3.25 million people came to the island via air in the first six months of the year.

This would translate to close to €96 million in revenue and €31 million in profit for Malta International Airport.

Speaking to the press, CEO Alan Borg said that while there was a general growth in first six months, the first quarter felt some of the effects surrounding Brexit, with uncertainty keeping some Britons from travelling.

British tourists make up the largest market share, with roughly 780,000 people coming from the UK. This is followed by Italy (640,000) and Germany (405,000).

Spain was a good performer in the first quarter, seeing a 26% growth when compared to the previous year. This is mostly off the back of low-cost carriers proving consistent all-year-round routes between Malta, Barcelona and Madrid.

Low-cost routes, unsurprisingly, make up 56% of all arrivals, up by 10%. While certainly good for figures, there are concerns that the country may be focusing too much quantity rather than quality high spending tourism.

“We want to increase the spend of our tourists, which is still lower than what we would like,” Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi said.

He said the government was working on a six-year strategy for 2025. This, Mizzi said, would target group development with all the relevant stakeholders.

The plan would look to increase short-term routes for low-cost carriers, with Air Malta looking to focus on key localities in America, Canada, and India.

“We’ve had 50,000 Americans come to Malta, around 10,000 South Koreans. We need to push to ensure that we are providing connectivity to high spending tourists,” Mizzi said.

He also said that the government would be looking to diversify the market by investing in tourism infrastructure, and the potential introduction of “three high end hotels in Sliema and St Julians”.

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