ADPD urges changes to combat negative impacts of tourism on Malta

ADPD wants reforms to address the negative impact of mass tourism on residents and the environment.

In a press conference on Saturday, ADPD Chairperson Sandra Gauci said that while the number of visitors had boosted the economy, it had also brought major inconvenience to communities in tourist hotspots such as St Paul’s Bay, St Julian’s, Sliema and Swieqi. 

Gauci added that residents in these areas are paying the price of Malta being marketed as a party island.

Gauci noted that the St Paul’s Bay Local Council had recently approved a motion she presented, calling for tourist eco-tax revenues to be passed directly to councils hosting tourist accommodation. 

She argued that this would allow localities carrying the brunt of mass tourism to better cope with the pressures on infrastructure and services. It was, she said, disappointing that Labour councillors chose to oppose the motion, but encouraging that the proposal gained enough support to pass.

ADPD Secretary General Ralph Cassar also insisted that the current €5 cap on the eco-tax should be scrapped and the daily rate of 50c increased to reflect the true costs of tourism on local communities. 

He urged Tourism Minister Ian Borg to act immediately, noting that the current system fails to address the reality faced by residents.

The party went on to call for the withdrawal of a planning policy that permits hotels to build two additional storeys above local plan limits. Cassar pointed to recent NSO figures showing an 8.1% increase in hotel guests in the second quarter of 2025 compared with the same period last year, saying this made it clear that there are already more than enough tourist beds in the country. 

ADPD warned that the government’s Vision 2050 strategy, which targets 4.5 million tourists annually by 2035, is unsustainable and should be scrapped. The party is calling for an updated study on Malta’s tourism carrying capacity to replace outdated research and provide a realistic picture of the country’s limits.

Another major concern raised was the growing number of apartments originally built as residences that are now being converted into unregistered tourist accommodation. 

This trend, they said, is pushing residents out of neighbourhoods and changing the character of towns. ADPD argued that stronger enforcement is needed to ensure such conversions are properly regulated and insisted that no residence should be transformed into tourist accommodation without the consent of the relevant local council.