With the peak summer holiday season just weeks away, concerns about overtourism in Europe’s most popular destinations are resurfacing as holiday-goers begin packing for their getaways.
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Countries like Portugal and Spain have dominated headlines around overtourism in recent years thanks to high-profile protests, with their governments introducing measures around short-term lets and cruise passenger numbers to ease pressures on popular areas brought on by high influxes of international visitors.
Is Malta now grappling a similar fate? According to The Times of Malta, the jury is out on this one.
Year on year between 2020 and 2025, inbound visitors to the island nation have continued to rise, with the sharpest boost in the past five years seen from 2024 to 2025 at +13.2%, including overnight cruise passengers.
From January to December 2025, the Malta Tourism Authority recorded more than four million inbound tourist arrivals, with the UK, Italy and Portugal ranking among the top three key markets. More than three million of these visitors were first-time arrivals to the island, and 93.1% travelled for holiday purposes.
The average stay stood at 6.3 nights, which generated €3.9 billion in tourist expenditure over the year.
In a poll for the Times of Malta carried out by Esprimi, a Maltese market research company, 51% of respondents said these numbers are "just about right", while the other side of the fence at 45% said the arrival numbers are "excessive".
But this sentiment isn’t exactly even across the island, which was ranked sixth among the top 30 countries receiving the most tourists per square kilometre in 2024.
Concerns over arrivals are especially sharper in areas near major tourist hotspots like St Paul’s Bay, Mellieħa and Gozo, where as many as 59% of pollsters said arrivals are too high. However, the opposite was seen in places Marsascala, Marsaxlokk and Birżebbuġa, where fears over high tourism numbers were as low as 27% among locals.
Euronews Travel has reached out to the Malta Tourism Authority for comment.
Malta’s most visited islands
More than 2.3 million tourists visited Gozo and Comino in 2025 – a staggering 57% of all visitors to Malta that year, according to the National Statistics Office.
A quaint alternative to mainland Malta, Gozo sits just a 45-minute ferry ride from the capital Valletta, and attracts travellers in search of slower paced escapes, scenic walking routes and a glimpse into Maltese yesteryear.
Reasons to visit the island include its stellar culinary reputation, with five eateries serving up fresh seafood, contemporary, Italian and Mediterranean delicacies cosigned by the Michelin Guide.
Meanwhile, Comino offers a range of activities on both land and sea. The small island is home to 12 recognised diving sites, swimming areas and historical landmarks open to the public, including a 17th-century tower built by the Knights of St. John, who were tasked with providing shelter and care to pilgrims en route to Jerusalem.
Comino is also famed for its Blue Lagoon – a shallow bay with piercing blue water and white sands. Access to the Maltese oasis requires pre-booked via the "Book, Protect, Enjoy" system, spearheaded by the Malta Tourism Authority in collaboration with the Tourism Ministry as part of efforts to stem overcrowding and protect the lagoon's ecosystems and environment.
Visitors typically island hop from Gozo to Comino, or from the capital Valletta take a 15-20 minute ferry or bus ride to Sliema, which has several operators offering direct boat rides to Comino. It can cost anywhere between €30 to €90 per person to get to the island from Valletta.