Malta may have lost one of its most iconic tourism landmarks this winter, but the Azure Window is far from the only reason why it's a good idea to visit the country, says the UK's Express.
The country is breaking tourism records, and it's not only because of the stunning Azure Window, and the surge is not expected to die down just because the once popular attraction was felled by a winter storm.
"Tourists seem to agree, as the country received two million visitors in 2016, with more expected this year. Already a record-breaking 100,000 tourists stayed in Malta in January 2017," notes Helen Coffey.
Why is the country growing in popularity? English-speaking locals are one of the things driving visitation as communication is easy.
"Learning English is compulsory in schools so, while not everyone speaks it fluently, the vast majority of people can get by - data suggests 88 per cent of the popularism can speak it to some degree," writes Coffey.
Terrorist threats may have dealt a blow to other popular destinations in the Med, but Malta has very little in the way of threats.
"While former tourist hotspots Turkey, Tunisia and Egypt felt the knock-on effect of terrorist attacks with lower visitor numbers, Malta has so far seen very little in the way of security threats which might put off tourists," Coffey reports.
[READMORE]READ MORE: Malta's Azure Window Collapses [/READMORE]
Malta is also the 2018 Capital of Culture in Europe.
"In practice, this means that all kinds of exciting cultural events are happening in the run-up to next year. These include a wine festival, international arts festival, summer ballet performance program, book festival, Malta fashion week and Lost and Found - a four-day music festival hosted by DJ Annie Mac running from 13 to 16 April 2017," says Coffey.
Looking for more reasons to visit? Read on about Malta's history and food, here.
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