Tourism up just over one per cent

Figures issued yesterday by the National Statistics Office show how difficult it may be to attract 50,000 extra tourists this year, an aim set by the government in the last budget.

Tourism departure figures for the first six months amounted to 797,611, an increase of just 7,971, or 1.1 per cent, over the same period last year. Of these,780,943 were air departures, up by 2.1 per cent.

Statistics for accommodation showed the number of nights spent by tourists departing by air had decreased by 0.4 per cent over the same period last year. The number of nights spent in hotels dropped by 1.6 per cent and accounted for 63.6 per cent of the total nights spent here.

Tourists opting for a stay in Gozo reached 39,420, or five per cent of the total, a healthy increase of 9,497 over the same period last year.

Expenditure for the same period also decreased by Lm3.6 million, or 1.2 per cent. As a result, per capita expenditure decreased from Lm193.5 to Lm187.1.

The British market, which accounted for 41.2 per cent, grew by 5.7 per cent. Other markets were successful, including Austria, Denmark, Germany, Sweden and the US. Tourists from Italy, on the other hand, who accounted for 7.7 per cent, dropped by 2.9 per cent. Other declining markets included those from Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland, Russia and Libya.

The Prime Minister acknowledged during a radio programme the other day that the trends indicated the country may be far from reaching the 50,000 tourist target, cautioning, however, that figures for the peak season were not out yet.

August, however, has not seen a big rise in the number of tourists, who increased by 0.7 per cent when compared with the corresponding month last year, reaching a total of 178,294.

Tourist departures by air were estimated at 167,614, an increase of 2.9 per cent when compared to the same month last year, while those by sea dropped to 10,680 - a decrease of 3,507.

In the same month the UK market was the most successful, with an increase of 15.4 per cent over August last year, reaching a share of 42.5 per cent of the total. Italian tourists, on the other hand, accounted for 11.2 per cent of the total, going down by six per cent.

Other increases in tourist departures by air were recorded from Austria, Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Switzerland and the US.

German tourists, who accounted for 7.9 per cent of the market, decreased by 12.4 per cent, and other drops in tourist departures included those from Belgium, France, Germany, Russia and Libya.

Holiday tourists increased by 0.4 per cent and business tourists dropped by 15.6 per cent.

Expenditure on package tours was estimated at Lm142 million, a decrease of Lm8.7 million, or 5.8 per cent when compared to last year. Non-package tourists spent Lm33.3 million on air fares and Lm21.1 million on accommodation, increasing total expenditure on non-package travel by about Lm8.2 million or 17.7 per cent.

Other expenditure from both package and non-package tourists altogether dropped by Lm3.1 million to Lm95.8 million from Lm98.9 million in January-August 2004.