Malta’s economy has benefitted from almost €5 million in sport related tourism in the past year according to Tourism Minister Julia Farrugia Portelli.

She was speaking during a meeting with the Malta Football Association (MFA) after visiting the national stadium and sports complex in Ta’ Qali.

“Sport related tourism, especially that pertaining to football teams’ training camps, has grown exponentially in Malta during the last year and it is estimated that €5 million has been injected into Malta’s economy from it,” Farrugia Portelli explained.

This sum is a result of the joint efforts of the MFA, Malta Tourism Authority (MTA) and Sports Plus which saw 30,000 nights of occupied accommodation over the past year, in addition to the numerous adverts that Malta received across international sites, stations and news portals which come to Malta to report their respective teams, Farrugia Portelli said.

MFA President Bjorn Vassallo explained that half of this amount relates to an agreement with Sports Plus, which is a subsidiary of the MFA and supported by the MTA, while the other half relates to national teams that play matches in Malta.

He also praised the collaboration that exists between the MTA, MFA and Tourism Ministry and emphasised the importance of having such meetings which motivate the association to strengthen its infrastructure in order to make Malta a strong competitor within this market.

Farrugia Portelli stated that the ministry will be looking into promoting this type of tourism in the future – “in the coming months, we have to attract more tourists to Malta with the help of training camps specialising in football in collaboration with the MFA.”

MTA Chairman Gavin Gulia, Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Tourism and Consumer Protection Ronald Mizzi and several officials from MTA and MFA where also present for this meeting.