Quality vs. Quantity Tourism

The concept of 'quality tourism' has been a recurring theme in the strategies of successive governments and industry stakeholders in the island-nation of Malta since the 1980s, with increased emphasis from the late 1990s onwards. This chapter examines the evolution of the Maltese tourism sector within the context of the supposed necessity to transition from mass tourism to quality tourism. The obstacles encountered in this unsuccessful endeavour have culminated in unprecedented levels of overtourism during the post-Covid-19 recovery period, much to the consternation of increasingly vocal environmental groups and the alienated local communities. The literature and data extracted from local newspapers of record between 1980 and 2024 concur that this failure can be attributed to a lack of political resolve to prioritise long-term sustainable quality tourism over short-term economic gains, the result of the influence of segments of the business community.