Malta is welcoming an increased number of tourists from other European Union Member States and the United Kingdom after it facilitated entry restrictions, in spite of raised concerns over a new COVID-19 wave.
The increase in the number of international visitors resulted from the EU Digital COVID Certificate launched on July 1, which permits its holders to enter the island country, and other European states restriction-free, as well as from the UK’s green travel pass, which allows Britons to enter Malta without being subject to entry restrictions, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
According to the European statistics provider Eurostat, the figure for nights EU visitors accommodated in establishments decreased by 61 per cent from April 2020 until March 2021, while Malta, Spain, Portugal, Hungary, and Greece were the most affected countries in Europe.
The same source revealed that Malta marked an 80 per cent decrease in overnight stays, which figures show that the island country was the hardest-hit destination by the pandemic.
In order to attract international visitors, the country’s government recently decided to give people aged 65 and over €100 to stay there. Travellers will receive €100 of vouchers to spend, which can be redeemed at participating hotels, shops, restaurants, and service outlets.
This is not the first time that authorities in Malta offer such possibilities for international travellers to revive their travel and tourism sector.
Back then, the country’s Tourism Minister Clayton Bartolo stressed that a tourist who picks out a four-star hotel would receive 150 euros while those who chose a three-star hotel would receive 100 euros.
“The scheme is aimed at putting Malta’s hotels in a very competitive position as international tourism restarts,” Malta’s Tourism Minister Clayton Bartolo…