Inbound tourism up by 4.6% over November 2011

Tourstat data for November showed an increase of 4.6 per cent in total inbound tourists when compared to the corresponding month last year.

Excluding the 2,163 passengers who stayed overnight on board their berthed cruise ship, the increase amounted to 2.0 per cent.

The total number of tourists who visited Malta during November is estimated at 87,654. Excluding the passengers who stayed overnight on a ship, 85,491 were departing tourists, up by 2 per cent compared to the corresponding period last year.

Estimates show that the absolute majority of departing tourists, or 68,236, visited Malta for holiday purposes. Another 11,801 trips were undertaken for business purposes. First-time visitors rose by 4 per cent over 2011. Inbound tourism from EU Member States increased by 3 per cent, and represented 85 per cent of departing tourists. Meanwhile, tourists from outside the EU decreased slightly, to 12,963. Malta's main tourism markets continue to be the UK, Germany and Italy, albeit a significant increase in the French market was noted.

Total nights spent by departing tourists during November went up by 3 per cent to 685,520. The majority of guest nights were spent in collective accommodation establishments, where an increase of 2 per cent was reported. The average length of stay stood at 8.0 nights, up by 0.1 of a night when compared to November last year. This was mainly attributable to an increase of 12 per cent in stays exceeding 7 nights.

During the reference month, total expenditure of departing tourists was estimated at €70.8 million, a growth of 8 per cent over last year. Expenditure on package travel went up by 8 per cent, while non-package expenditure advanced by 13 per cent.

January-November 2012

The total number of tourists who visited Malta during this 11-month period is estimated at 1,384,763. Of these, 1,382,600 were departing tourists, an increase of 2 per cent over the comparable period in 2011.

Most departing tourists were holidaymakers, predominantly from the euro area. However, an increase of 4 per cent was registered in the number of tourists from Non-EU countries.

Non-package travel was slightly higher than package travel, with an estimated 53 per cent of departing tourists. Nonetheless, those opting for package travel edged up by 1 per cent when compared to 2011. On a gender basis, results show that male tourists exceeded their female counterparts, accounting for 52 per cent of the total.

Total nights spent went up by 7 per cent, reaching almost 12.0 million. The average length of stay for the period under review stood at 8.7 nights, up by 0.5 of a night over 2011. In absolute terms, the majority of guest nights were spent in collective accommodation establishments, while an increase of 14 per cent was noted in the use of private accommodation.

During January-November 2012, total expenditure of departing tourists was estimated at €1.3 billion, up by 8 per cent over last year. Increases were recorded across all expenditure categories. Total per capita expenditure was estimated at €933 - up by 6 per cent over 2011.