Malta seeks trade feedback on accessible tourism

Malta is seeking feedback from the travel trade on how to improve the destination further for visitors with accessible needs.

The destination has successfully focused on the needs of the diversity, equity and inclusion market and is striving to become even better suited for accessible travel.

Malta Tourism Authority UK and Ireland director Tolene van der Merwe made the plea during World Travel Market as she reported that UK arrivals to the destination had increased by 31% from January to August this year compared with the same period in 2023, which attracted just short of 352,000 UK arrivals.

She said the destination would welcome help from the trade on how to adapt further to attract more travellers who were disabled or had accessibility requirements, or those with neurodiverse needs.

Van der Merwe urged agents to tell the tourist board what these clients needed in resort and what would encourage them to visit Malta.

She said: “People think this is a niche area. It’s not niche. I want Malta to be as accessible as possible. We have already spoken to a number of tour operators that specialise in this area to tell us where to improve.

“If agents specialise in accessible travel, then we want to have conversations with them. What are the barriers to travel? Or are there any triggers we need to consider [for neurodiversity needs]?”

She said there would be hotels or tourist areas that would “struggle” to meet all these needs but was keen to see where the destination could make more improvements.

“You have to spend money to get it right and there are hotels with things in place but that conversation needs to be had. The ones that are ready will tap into that market,” she added.

The destination – which hopes to develop Malta for year-round visits, increase lengths of stay on the island and attract more ‘quality’ tourists – also aims to improve its trade relationships when it hosts The Advantage Travel Partnership annual conference in May next year.

The tourist board plans to offer pre and post excursions and travel options to agents to explore its history, culture and gastronomy.

Van der Merwe said there were plans to follow up the event with a concerted strategy to drive more sales to Malta through the consortium’s agents and ensure it reaps the benefit of hosting a large-scale trade conference.

The UK remains the top source market for Malta, with 19% market share. Total arrivals last year reached 2.9 million and this year could see that figure rise to 3.6 million, added Van der Merwe.