Environmental impacts of tourism on Mdina and Rabat in Malta

Abstract

As a consequence to an increasing amount of tourism, certain old cities and towns tend to become increasingly attractive to tourists due to the high volumes of museums, galleries, restaurants and other historical and cultural attractions. Even though this growth can provide a number of socio-economic benefits for the local community, it can without a doubt also affect the community in a negative way through an increasing amount of pollution and degradation of the natural environment, increasing pressure on infrastructure and growing frustration from the local community. This study seeks to analyse the environmental impacts of tourism on the cities of Mdina and Rabat from the perspective of the cities’ residents as well as its visitors. A questionnaire of 78 local residents and 94 visitors was conducted. Results indicate that majority of the residents perceived tourism to have a slightly negative impact towards the environment, in terms of air pollution, traffic congestion, and too many tourist recreational facilities. On the other hand, the visitors seemed to have a positive reply towards the environment of the localities they visited. It is recommended that the authorities get the most out of the perceived positive and negative environmental impacts of tourism, by utilising the impacts to gain insight of strengthening the environmental conservation.