A profile of the foreign visitor to Gozo

Abstract

The island of Gozo is a special component of the tourism product of the Maltese islands, in that it presents a unique and unspoilt product, which is sufficiently different from what countries neighbouring Malta can offer. Due to the constraints posed by isolation and small size, Gozo has managed to retain a lot of what Malta has lost to touristic, industrial and domestic housing development. Because of its appeal and its proximity to Malta, which attracts in excess of one million tourists per annum, Gozo attracts a substantial volume of visitors and tourists, both Maltese and foreign throughout the year. Foreigners constitute a sizeable share of traveller inflow to Gozo and travel to the island either as tourists on a Gozo only holiday or as part of a two centre holiday with Malta, or as day trippers on organised tours from Malta.