Malta Tourism Authority 2012 statistics issued in its market profile survey show that the total amount of tourists who visited the Maltese Islands specifically for diving stood at around 85,000 people, an estimated 10,000 of whom were Germans, meaning that the German market ranked the second highest after the British market in this particular segment.

Based on the above figures, the Malta Tourism Authority considered the BOOT fair, which was held earlier this month over eight days, and which saw MTA participating, as a good opportunity to continue promoting the Maltese islands to boost its numbers with regards to tourists choosing Malta as their preferred diving destination, as well as potentially attracting more water sports enthusiasts.

The BOOT fair is one of the many initiatives which is undertaken by the MTA, together with its overseas network, in order to promote this important segment.

The BOOT fair is an international water sports fair which is held in Dusseldorf.

“Our Islands offer some unique diving experiences with an abundance of caves and wrecks that make diving here some of the most interesting in the Mediterranean.

“Apart from the MTA, local dive centres also find that participation in the BOOT fair is an important opportunity to showcase their services and entice new business.

“This year was no exception, with nine dive centres from Malta and Gozo taking part in the fair,” an MTA spokesperson told this newspaper.

The dive centres which took part were ‘Atlantis’, ‘Calypso Divers’, ‘Dive Systems’, ‘Extra Divers’, ‘Mad Shark’, ‘Nautic Team’, ‘Octopus Garden Diving’, ‘Orange Shark H2O Divers’ and ‘St. Andrews Divers Cove’. 

The BOOT fair marks the beginning of a new trade fair calendar in Dusseldorf. At this year’s event, 1,650 exhibitors ranging from 60 countries took part and the whole exhibition was spread out over 17 different halls.

Apart from the large number of stands, there were also 18 themed settings and adventure worlds were visitors could learn new activities and try out any water sports discipline in the indoor pools and the diving pools.

 

An estimate of diving tourists by country who visited Malta (source: MTA Market Profile Survey)

 

2012

Total Tourist

Departures

2012

Diving Tourists

Total

1,443,974

84,260

UK

440,316

20,480

Germany

137,213

10,060

France

107,530

7,240

Italy

201,790

10,015

Netherlands

39,351

3,150

Nordic Countries

97,204

5,330

Austria

19,779

650

Belgium

27,361

1,090

Switzerland

25,772

2,815

Spain

60,389

7,705