March sees 22% more visitors to Malta over last year

Inbound visitors for March were estimated at 141,266, marking a total an increase of 22.3% when compared to the corresponding month in 2016.

Visitors who travelled by air witnessed an increase of  26,155 persons, reaching 138,298, while sea travellers decreased by 752 (-22.3%) to 2,624.

A total of 105,080 inbound tourist trips were carried out for holiday purposes, while a further 20,017 were undertaken for business purposes. Inbound tourists from EU member states went up by 23.4% to 123,063 when compared to the corresponding month in 2016. The majority of inbound tourists were aged between 45 and 64 (47,783 visitors, an increase of 7,197 over the previous year), closely followed by those within the 25-44 age bracket (47,295 visitors, an increase of 12,597 over the previous year).

Total nights spent went up by 6.8% when compared to March 2016, amounting to 856,920 nights. The largest share of guest nights (70.3%) was spent in collective accommodation establishments. Tourist nights in private accommodation increased by 9.2% when compared to March 2016.

Total tourist expenditure was estimated at €96.5 million, an increase of 11.8% over the corresponding month in 2016.

January-March 2017

Inbound tourist trips from January to March 2017 reached 348,890, an increase of 24.0% over the same period in 2016. Total nights spent by inbound tourists went up by 11.1%, reaching nearly 2.3 million nights.

Total tourism expenditure was estimated at €237.2 million, 13.3% higher than that recorded for 2016. Total expenditure per capita stood at €680, a decrease of 8.6% when compared to 2016.