COVID pandemic forced cut in overseas travel

There were 196,508 outbound trips by Maltese residents last year, a 72% drop from the previous year, according to the National Statistics Office.

Travel was severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic as countries introduced tough quarantine measures and restricted incoming tourists to lower the risk of virus spread.

The NSO figures released today show that 184,266 air trips took place last year by Maltese residents, a far cry from the 677,004 trips in 2019.

Similarly, sea trips last year stood at 12,241, down from 29,793 in the previous year.

Total nights spent by outbound tourists went down by 64%, reaching nearly 1.7 million nights. The total estimated expense by resident tourists stood at €139.6 million, 77% lower than that recorded in 2019.