Inbound tourism up 3.5% in July

Total inbound visitors for July were estimated at 207,541, an increase of 3.5 per cent when compared to the corresponding month of 2014. Excluding passengers who stayed overnight on board their berthed cruise ship, total inbound tourist trips amounted to 206,626.

A total of 176,807 inbound tourist trips were carried out for holiday purposes, while a further 9,173 were undertaken for business purposes. Inbound tourists from EU Member States went up by 5.2 per cent to 170,671 when compared to the corresponding month of 2014. The largest proportion of inbound tourists were aged between 25 and 44, followed by those within the 0-24 age bracket.

Total nights spent went up by 7.2 per cent when compared to July 2014, reaching nearly 1.9 million nights. The largest share of guest nights (58.1 per cent) was spent in collective accommodation establishments.

Total tourist expenditure was estimated at €220.2 million, an increase of 8.6 per cent over 2014.

Inbound tourist trips from January to July amounted to 970,084, an increase of 5.2 per cent over the same period in 2014. Total nights spent by inbound tourists went up by 4.2 per cent, reaching 7.3 million nights.

During January-July, total tourism expenditure was estimated at €845.8 million, 6.7 per cent higher than that recorded for 2014. Total expenditure per capita stood at €872, an increase of 1.4 per cent when compared to 2014.

Tourism ministry points out July presented a record breaking 207,000 tourists

The government has welcomed the registered increase in tourism. Quoting the NSO statistics, Minister Edward Zammit Lewis said that July had seen a record of tourists, with over 207,000 tourists.

In his statement, Zammit Lewis pointed out that there was a 3.5% increase between July 2015 and July 2014 and that tourist spending also rose by around 9%; which translated into an additional €17.5 million going directly to the Maltese economy, when compared to July 2014.

“According to statistics, spending per capita reached €872, which presented a 1.4% increase over 2014,” the statement reads.

He added that this figure confirmed the positive figures Malta achieved in the latest World Travel and Tourism Council report.

“The latter report had showed that last year tourism had directly contributed 15% into the Gross Domestic Product and that it had created some 28,000 jobs.”

Zammit Lewis added that the statistics had confirmed that tourism is in fact one of the main driving forces of the local economy and that the positive results were leading to more investment, high quality jobs and more national wealth.