Inbound tourism up 9% in December

Total inbound visitors for December were estimated at 72,568, an increase of 8.9 per cent when compared to the corresponding month of 2014.

A total of 60,728 inbound tourist trips were carried out for holiday purposes, while a further 6,818 were undertaken for business purposes. Inbound tourists from EU Member States went up by 10.5 per cent to 61,346 when compared to the corresponding month of 2014. The largest proportion of inbound tourists was aged between 25 and 44, followed by those within the 45-64 age bracket.

Total nights spent went up by 4.5 per cent when compared to December 2014, amounting to 611,353 nights. The largest share of guest nights (55.4 per cent) was spent in collective accommodation establishments.

Total tourist expenditure was estimated at €53.7 million, an increase of 4.0 per cent over the corresponding month of 2014.

Inbound tourist trips from January to December amounted to 1,791,422, an increase of 6.0 per cent over the same period in 2014. Total nights spent by inbound tourists went up by 5.1 per cent, surpassing 14.2 million nights.

Total tourism expenditure was estimated at €1,643.9 million, 7.5 per cent higher than that recorded for 2014 (Table 9). Total expenditure per capita stood at €918, an increase of 1.4 per cent when compared to 2014.