In her report Ms McKenzie says of the Mediterranean holiday island 'In Malta there is no such thing as a dark and uninviting alley, while the police force is one of the oldest in the world'.



The report also praises New Zealand, Switzerland and Singapore as safe destinations.

Top was Monaco, with one police officer for every one hundred residents, and 24 hour cctv coverage of the entire principality.

Commenting on the report, a local travel guide was not surprised that Malta reached Ms Mckenzie's top five safest locations, nor that Monaco was top.

'Malta has her problems with the state of the roads and some other infrastructure, but when it comes to the people it's doubtful if you will find a friendlier more helpful island in the Mediterranean. This report from Ms McKenzie has come at around the same time as another survey showing that Malta is one of the best places in the world for retiring to. The Malta people and weather make for a great combination'.

Commenting on Monaco, who just beat Malta to top spot for safe destinations, the guide say that the reasons for moving to Malta and Monaco are very different.

'Monaco is for millionaires and billionaires, who often choose to live there because of the zero income tax. Malta is a low tax island and has her share of millionaires, but Monaco needs the security and does it well because it's what the wealthy expect - and they get it'.

Malta Holidays

The two surveys with positive news about Malta comes at a worrying time for the Malta holiday industry.

The number of tourists visiting Malta this year is down on previous years, and some predictions are that it could be 100,000 less than 2005 - while the Malta Tourist Authority had hoped to see a similar figure in the opposite direction.

But recent news of low cost airlines gaining permission to fly to the island has given some hope in the Malta hotel and holiday industry that next year will see the decline reversed.

Hotel and resort owners have seen the Maltese government drag the negotiations out with the low cost airlines for some time, with delays in agreements losing Malta the potential of having extra tourists for this summer season.

Statements from Ryanair, the first low cost carrier to be flying to Malta, indicate that at one stage they were taking a booking a minute for their new Malta route.

'If the Malta government had the agreement in place six months ago, the tourist industry would be in a much better position today, after a good summer', add the travel guide.

Some of the anticipation of an increase in hotel and holiday bookings for Malta has been tempered recently after a survey in the UK - Malta's largest market - showed that package holidays in 2007 would be more expensive than comparable holidays in Spain and her islands.