Ireland & Malta: Is the Med Nation a Sleeping Giant for Irish Tourism?
We Irish love to travel. How many times have you been walking the backstreets of some small island nation on the other side of the world and been stopped in your tracks by a rogue Kerry jersey? – sometimes it can feel like you’re on your way to Croke Park despite being thousands of miles away.
But local GAA or rugby jerseys aside, sometimes it can feel as if travel from our island has gotten a bit stale. We tend to visit the same spots. Everyone has a cousin out in Australia. Or over in the States. Or maybe they’ve gone to the Netherlands if they don’t feel as adventurous to settle so far away. And so we tend to visit those same spots for our holidays, too – with a little Spain, France and Portugal thrown in for good measure.
So what about Malta? – a tiny set of islands in the Mediterranean that maybe has a little more influence on your life than you would ever expect?
Malta an Industry Leader in a Surprising Sector
If you asked anyone from Ireland about Malta, they would probably tell you that it’s close to Italy and was used as a backdrop for Game of Thrones. That’s if they knew anything at all. Well, even Belfast can claim to have been a filming location for the J.R.R. Martin adventure series. But there’s one thing that they probably should know about Malta – it’s a hub for online casinos.
iGaming, which is how the online casino and sports betting industry is known, is one of Malta’s biggest exports. That’s because it was one of the first nations in Europe to offer licensing for online casino sites all the way back in 2001. That allowed them to steal a march on the rest of the continent and has meant that the Malta Gaming Authority is … well .. an authority on gambling in Europe.
Because of that, iGaming sites operating all over Europe rely on licensing in the nation as a sign of compliance with strict regulations. For example, Karamba casino for Irish players is even licensed by the MGA, displaying the logo of the authority on its Ireland-specific site. This shows how Malta has its fingerprints all over Irish gaming.
A Nation of Great Shared History: The Maltese Connection
As two island nations who share tumultuous pasts with our neighbour to the east of Ireland, we understandably share some common history. But it goes far beyond simply achieving independence from the United Kingdom. In fact, some Irish-born figures have been present in the politics of Malta for centuries.
According to the Ireland.ie website, two of the islands’ governors were born here in Ireland and have left an indelible mark on the nation. In fact, Francis Rawdon Hastings from County Down even lends his name to the Hastings Gardens in Valletta. Further, in the 1920s, when our own country was experiencing great upheaval in its battle for independence, Limerick’s Michael Dundon was the Maltese health minister.
Data from the same website shows that around 45,000 Irish tourists visit the islands each year, meaning it isn’t as unhidden a gem as some may think. However, considering the Central Statistics Office data shows that more than 4 million overseas trips were taken in quarter 4 of 2024 alone, with 46% of them visiting Spanish cities, the Malta numbers are a drop in the ocean.
Could Malta Become a More Popular Destination?
The only thing that holds Malta back from becoming as popular a destination as Spain or Portugal for Irish tourists is the size of the Mediterranean nation. Ireland may not be the biggest of European countries but the Republic of Ireland’s 5.3 million population is almost ten times Malta’s 550,000.
That is the same number of people as live in the Dublin City Council area and less than a third of those living in the entire county. We’re used to being dwarfed by our neighbours but, in this case, we’re the bigger cousins. As such, it limits us in the number of destinations and the perils of overtourism.
This is a nation of great beauty, with stunning cliff faces, historical monuments to a storied history, and amazing food and culture. It’s all set to be the next big Irish destination, but we might just have to keep it to ourselves for now!
Photo by Nick Fewings
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