To Combat Overtourism, Attract Visitors to Undervisited Localities

Having lived in Malta for over a year, I visited the famed Hagar Qim Temple for the first time late last month. I was spurred on by unexpectedly waking up to a sunny and warm weekday without work. My trip was well worth it, as the UNESCO heritage site’s enigmatic beige stone blocks contrast beautifully with the yellow flowers in full bloom amidst the green grass and the blue Mediterranean in the distance. 

However, the Temple grounds felt deserted, especially compared to the crowded streets of Valletta, Sliema, and St. Julian’s. No wonder, considering that the site only gets less than 200,000 visitors in a good year, only a fraction of the nearly 820,000 people entering Heritage Malta facilities, even though Malta attracts more than 3 million domestic and international tourists yearly. 

The lack of convenient transport infrastructure is why Hagar Qim and the sights of Malta’s less populated southern side do not get that many visitors. Indeed, getting there was not easy from the north. From my home in St. Paul’s Bay, two changes, plenty of traffic and waits, and a long walk from the nearest bus stop took more than three hours, enough to deter most budget-conscious people from visiting. Indeed, most of the visitors I saw at Hagar Qim were on school trips or group tours, with many large buses waiting in the parking lot.

This lack of infrastructure will continue to entrench the reality of a geographical imbalance in Malta’s tourism industry, especially among international travelers without personal vehicles. The 2024 edition of Regional Statistics Malta shows that only 25% of international visitors to Malta stay outside the five big northern towns of Valletta, Sliema, St. Julian’s, St. Paul’s Bay, and Mellieha. With limited time and energy, they see little reason to devote a part of their day or budget to transporting themselves to the southern side.

Resolving this imbalance could be the key to making the continuing influx of foreigners in Malta more sustainable over time. Multiple media reports attest to the country's crowdedness due to tourists flooding its old streets and gorgeous beaches. But a quick walk in towns near Hagar Qim, such as Qrendi and Zurrieq, reveals that the tourism boom almost entirely passed them, with few lodging and eating options for out-of-towners. 

It is a shame these localities have not benefited equally from tourism. Given their proximity to Hagar Qim and the airport, not to mention the Blue Grotto, Dingli Cliffs, and other sights along the ragged coast, these towns certainly have the potential to entice those who want to see more of Malta but want to avoid the crowds. Moreover, considering that in 2023, more than 670,000, or nearly a quarter, of international travelers to Malta are here not for the first time, there is a large enough market of people willing to avoid the country’s “big-ticket” destinations. 

Turning this potential into a realizable solution to tourism imbalance will require a concerted public-private collaboration. On one hand, the Malta Tourism Authority, as part of the Visit Malta initiative, should divert resources to create content on what is considered “off the beaten path” so that the country is not seen as a one-time, check-off-the-bucket-list destination consisting of the usual suspects of tourist highlights. Transport Malta should highlight the easy connectivity of southern towns based on frequent bus services to Valletta and the airport. On the other hand, more entrepreneurs can consider creating affordable lodging options outside the major tourist areas. Airbnb listings remain almost absent in southern towns. Townspeople renting out their spare bedrooms can help plug this hole, even without real estate developers coming in to build dedicated hotels. 

Such redistribution efforts may help Malta better cope with growing tourism. In the north, residents and tourists need not be as miffed by the shoulder-to-shoulder crowds and inflated prices during the summer. In the south, residents can earn additional income from catering to visitors, while the relatively unseen beauty of the island’s remote corners becomes much more familiar to people worldwide. With some hard work, overtourism can be mitigated by spreading out the people and the benefits of attracting visitors.