Malta’s tourism potential

Abstract

Methods of estimation of tourist and recreational resources are traced; the analysis of natural tourist and recreational resources of the Republic of Malta is carried out; the analysis of historical and cultural tourist and recreational resources of the country is carried out; a point assessment of the country’s provision of tourist and recreational resources; the place of the Republic of Malta on the tourist market of Ukraine is revealed. The Republic of Malta is one of the few countries in the world with such a large and diverse historical and cultural site. The lands of the country have experienced centuries of historical events, after which there are memories in the form of cathedrals, palaces, museums, fortifications, etc. Malta has been established as a country with an ancient history. It has a large number of unique cultural monuments, as there were Carthaginians and Phoenicians, Roman and Byzantine empires, Arabs, knights of the Order of St. John, Napoleon, the British Empire. The country’s historical and cultural tourist resources make it interesting for tourists to visit. Malta has a great historical past, which has left a great legacy in the form of ancient fortresses, churches, cathedrals, majestic palaces. The UNESCO World Heritage Site is no exception for the country; there are 3 of them in the list. There are 7 sites in the country that are also currently candidates for inclusion in the World Heritage List. The country is rich in fortifications; there are 35 units in the country, which are of particular interest for tourists. Most of the fortifications were built during the Order of Malta to fortify the country from invaders. The natural conditions of Malta, which are the basis for tourism development, are analyzed. Methods for estimating the tourist potential of the country have been studied, in particular: normative-index, balance, graphic, cartographic, expert, statistical and mathematical methods, scoring. Integrated indicators for each region of Malta were determined using a score. Three categories of regions have been identified according to the assessment of the tourist potential of the territory.