More tourists came to Malta in Q1 this year, but on average spent slightly less time in the country

More tourists came to Malta in the first quarter of this year when compared to the same period last year, but a shorter average length of stay was registered.

The data was revealed by David Delicata, Deloitte Partner and Transportation, Hospitality and Services Industry Leader, during MHRA’s Malta Hospitality Forum.

In total, there were 807,000 tourist arrivals during Q1 this year, and they spent a total of 4.5 million guest nights, an almost 12 percent increase from the same period in 2025. In terms of tourist expenditure, in absolute terms it increased by around €80 million, he said, reaching around €585 million. This also means that the average spend per night rose.

But the average spend per visitor during their trip saw a slight decline of 1.1 per cent, down to €725. This was driven by slightly shorter average lengths of stay (5.5 nights vs. 5.7 in Q1 2025).

Deloitte analysed the growth in the first quarter to see where the increase in tourists is coming from.  It found that growth in arrivals is not always matched by growth in spend per tourist.

Poland, UK, Italy had the highest growth in arrivals. But in Poland for instance, for every €1 Polish tourists spent in Q1 2025, €0.95 was spent in Q1 2026 in nominal terms. But then Italy, which he said is normally in the category of lower spending tourists, rose to €1.04.

He said that Germany and UK contribute 27 per cent of tourism numbers, and 32 per cent of tourist expenditure. France, Italy, Poland and ‘rest of world’ contribute 53 per cent of arrivals, but only 46 per cent of tourist expenditure. The question, he asked, is how to entice these tourists to spend more.

Meanwhile, Australia, Denmark, Ireland, Netherlands, Switzerland and USA contribute 11 per cent of tourist volume and 15 per cent of tourist expenditure. Tourists from Belgium, Hungary, Spain and Sweden make up 9 per cent of the tourism volume and 7 per cent of the tourist expenditure.

The data was also divided into higher and lower spending tourists. For USA, Switzerland and Australia – higher spend tourists – they spent on average 5.7 nights and the spend per tourist was €1,171. They made up 42,000 of arrivals in Q1.

Tourists from Poland, Italy and Hungary meanwhile spent 5.1 nights on average and had an average spend per tourist of €568. They made up 253,000 of the arrivals. He said that flights are included in the average spend of tourists.

In terms of attraction choices for higher-spend and lower-spend tourists interestingly only 1 per cent of each went to Fort St Angelo, 3 per cent of each went to Hagar Qim.

Looking at occupancy levels of 3, 4 and 5 star hotels, there was growth, the data shows.

5-star occupancy levels in Q1 2026 reached 54.8 per cent. 4-star hotels registered similar occupancy levels (but a fraction of a point higher) to those recorded in Q1 2025, reaching 73 per cent, and 3-star operators achieved occupancy rates of almost 74 per cent for Q1.

In terms of revenue per available room for 4 and 5 star hotels, it increased in Q1 this year when compared to the same period last year, he said (12.6 per cent and 7 per cent and respectively).

He said that over 50 per cent of hotels are expecting a difficult August, with 50 per cent of 5 star hotels and higher percentages of 4 and 3 star hotels, with worse booking expectations for August when compared to same period in 2025. But, he said that this was something which was  a trend also seen last year, and that the top reason by hotels given for this is late booking behaviour.

The survey also asked hotels about AI. 67 per cent expect a moderate increase in hotel productivity due to AI, while 5 percent expect a significant increase. 26 per cent expect no change and 3 per cent a moderate decrease.