 Tourism is a major component of the Maltese economy , constituting about 40 per cent of Malta 's GDP in 2003 / 04 . 1 @,@ 183 @,@ 012 tourists visited Malta in 2009 . Although this is an 8 per cent drop from 2008 , the number of tourists is expected to reach 1 @,@ 300 @,@ 000 by the end of 2010 ( figures are not yet available ) . For the period January to December 2009 , drops were recorded in visits from most countries sending large numbers of tourists to Malta , including Belgium , France , Germany , Ireland , the Netherlands , Russia , the Scandinavian countries , Spain , the United Kingdom and the United States , whilst a 24 @.@ 7 per cent increase was recorded in visits to and from Libya . Visits from non @-@ European Union countries took the greatest hit , with visits from these countries decreasing by 15 per cent compared to 2008 . Comparatively , visits from European Union countries decreased only 7 @.@ 4 per cent . Visits from the Eurozone dropped by an even smaller proportion , recording a fall of only 5 @.@ 6 per cent . 
