Malta welcomed more tourists and recorded more guest nights during the first quarter of 2026, but the average visitor stayed for fewer nights and spent less, according to a Deloitte Malta survey presented at the MHRA Malta Hospitality Forum.

Comparing results between Q1 2026 and Q1 2025, Malta has recorded more tourist arrivals and overall guest nights from inbound tourists, however, the average length of stay and the average spend per tourist has decreased.

During the MHRA Malta Hospitality Forum on Friday morning, stakeholders from the Maltese tourism industry convened, together with politicians responsible over decision-making within the sector, where remarks were shared over the vision for how the Maltese tourism sector should be handled.

A presentation was also given on this sector's performance in Q1 2026, particularly for hotels, compared with last year's first quarter.

Deloitte Malta's David Delicata presented the industry's Q1 results and said that the sector's growth still remains strongly arrival-driven, while Q1 2026 observed more inbound tourists and guest nights stayed, but a shorter average stay per tourist and a lower average spend per visitor.

The number of flights boosting Malta's connectivity with the rest of the world has also increased.

In nominal terms, expenditure between this year's first quarter and last year's first quarter is up 15.2% (to €585 million), the average spend per visitor in Malta has decreased by 1.1% (down to €725 per head), and the average spend per guest night at hotels has gone up 2.7% (to €131 per night).

Delicata said that Malta's "strong growth in tourist arrivals" is rivalled only by Cyprus in the Mediterranean region; while Malta is experiencing a 13% rise in tourist arrivals for this quarter, Cyprus' growth is registered at +12%.

He observed that Malta had 4 million total inbound tourists last year while Cyprus had 4.5 million - a mark that Malta is expected to hit for 2026. Delicata called this a "remarkable result," considering Cyprus' significantly larger land mass to Malta.

He said that Q1 growth in expenditure is primarily volume-driven and that within Malta's key markets, the growth in tourist arrivals is not always matched with growth in spend per tourist.

Differences recorded between higher-spend and lower-spend inbound tourists

These results showed that higher-spend inbound tourists are twice as efficient as lower-spend inbound tourists.

Through its analysis, Deloitte Malta found that circa 8,500 higher-spend visitors are needed to generate €10 million, in comparison to the estimated 17,600 lower-spend visitors needed to reach the same mark.

When comparing lower-spend tourists (sampled from Poland, Italy, and Hungary) and higher-spend tourists (from the USA, Switzerland, and Australia) for Q1, the average length of stay varied between the two groups by 5.1 nights and 5.7 nights. In addition, the average spend per lower-spend tourist in the Maltese islands was recorded to be €568, which is less than half the average spend recorded for higher-spend tourists (€1,171).

Between these two types of tourists, the spend per guest night for the sample of lower-spend visitors stood at €111 - which is 53% of the higher-spend visitors' spend per guest night (€207).

Across Q1 2026, these lower-spend tourists accounted for 253,000 visitors (31% of the total volume), while higher-spend tourists factored for 42,000 visitors, i.e., 5% of the total volume.

Notably, Q1 2026 recorded a 20% increase in higher-spend tourist arrivals and a 7% increase in lower-spend tourist arrivals.

Higher-spend tourists contributed towards 49,000 total guest nights over Q1 and lower-spend tourists factored for 90,000 overall guest nights.

Lower-spend tourists were found to be more likely to find accommodation within the northern region of Malta, which includes Mellieħa and St. Paul's Bay, while higher-spend tourists typically opted for accommodation in Sliema, St. Julian's, and sometimes Valletta.

Over half of higher-spend tourists chose to stay at accommodation located in either Sliema or St. Julian's. Meanwhile, lower-spend tourists were much more likely to find accommodation within the northern region of Malta, which includes Mellieħa and St. Paul's Bay.

Lower-spend tourists were also more than twice as likely to dine in either Mellieħa, Buġibba, or Qawra than higher-spend tourists (36% v 15%).

Around a quarter (23%) of higher-spend tourists preferred dining in the capital city, as opposed to the 11% of lower-spend tourists. The majority of both kinds of tourists preferred to dine in either Sliema or St. Julian's.

Deloitte's study found that tourists visiting the Maltese islands visit the same destinations, irrespective of their spending ability. With this, Delicata questioned whether certain premium, more personalised packages should be introduced for higher-spend tourists in specific tourist hotspots such as St. John's Co-Cathedral as an example.

ADR growth across all hotel segments recorded in Q1 2026

Looking into hotels' performance throughout this quarter, the average daily rate (ADR) for 3-star, 4-star, and 5-star hotels grew. ADR growth for local hotels was also found to be outpacing inflation, based on the sample of 48 hotels in this study.

4-star hotels observed the largest ADR growth since Q1 2025, at 12.3%. 3-star hotels' ADR grew 9.5% in the same period, while the ADR growth for 5-star hotels was a more modest 4.4%.

In regional terms, the hotels in St. Paul's Bay and Qawra experienced the strongest ADR growth.

The average ADR for 5-star hotels in Q1 2026 was recorded to be €148. For 4-star hotels, this mark stood at €75, and for the eight 3-star hotels in this study, their ADR was €53.

For 5-star hotels, the revenue per available room has increased, as have occupancy rates. 5-star hotels also exhibited the highest costs when compared to 3-star and 4-star hotels.

Generally, revenue among hotels is outpacing their costs. Comparing the past two first quarters, the gross operating profit (GOP) margin has gone up from 7% to 10% for 5-star hotels and it has increased from a 13% GOP margin to 18% this Q1 for 4-star hotels.

Interestingly, over 50% of hotels are expecting a difficult August. 48% of hotels anticipating this said that this may be due to late booking behaviour; Delicata also observed that a similar trend was recorded last year, though late bookings picked up and business did not slow down as feared.

26% of hotels fear a challenging August due to pricing pressure, 22% cited geopolitical factors, another 22% referenced economic uncertainty, and 13% of hotels boiled this down to "increased competition from other destinations."

Two-thirds of hotels (67%) within this Deloitte survey said they anticipate "moderate improvements" to productivity over the short-to-medium-term. 5% are expecting a "significant increase" to productivity through AI uptake, while 26% are expecting no change, and 3% said they are expecting a "moderate decrease" in productivity after introducing AI technologies within their operations.

Delicata mentioned that "the lack of adoption of AI is not a matter of having a competitive advantage," but rather, it is necessary to remain competitive within the modern market.

He added that some hotels are implementing artificial intelligence without having the necessary AI expertise to handle it. Hence, he said that perhaps the MHRA could take initiative and assist these establishments on improving their AI knowledge and awareness.

Prior to the presentation, Tourism Minister Jo Etienne Abela said that "we must attract visitors who appreciate what Malta offers but we must ensure that our residents continue to enjoy a high quality of life" and that "quality and quantity must complement each other," rather than compete against each other.

The PN's Shadow Minister for Tourism, Alex Perici Calascione, spoke on the dangers of overtourism occurring around the Mediterranean region during peak periods and commented that in its efforts to boost tourism numbers and its experience, Malta cannot promote its internationally renowned sites while approving development permits "right next to them."

He added that tourism policy interacts with other areas, like environmental policy, transport planning, regional development, and cultural preservation. With this, he noted that proper tourism planning "requires long-term planning that exceeds electoral cycles."

Maltese MEP Daniel Attard also spoke at the event after just winning the Sustainable Tourism Award at this year's edition of the MEP Awards.

He said that asking whether we want more or less tourism is "too shallow" for what is needed, and that the Maltese islands should ask itself what kind of tourism it wants and what country it would like to have through this strategic direction.

Attard said that in his tourism report to the European Parliament, he said that "tourism must remain driver of prosperity while delivering for residents, businesses, and the environment."

He also called for a legal framework to be created for short-term rentals by the European Commission, where commercial are non-commercial operators are distinguished from one another. He continued that AI cannot replace the human element - like a receptionist's smile or a waiter's professionalism - that matters so much to the tourist experience.

MHRA President Tony Zahra also presented former Nationalist Party MP and Tourism Minister Mario de Marco with a special recognition for his long work within this sector.

In his speech, de Marco appealed to the politicians in the room to view tourism from the tourists' perspective, as well as from the eyes of Malta's proud residents.

Tony Zahra stressed the importance of leadership decisions in pushing the tourism industry towards the strategic direction it aims to strive towards.