Slight rise in tourist arrivals, drop in expenditure

Inbound tourism between January and April amounted to 259,950, an increase of 1.1 per cent over the comparable period last year, the National Statistics Office said yesterday.

Increases were recorded in the Italian, German and British markets, at 15 per cent, 3.9 per cent and 2.8 per cent respectively. Other increases were from the Swedish, Danish and Belgian markets.

The number of nights spent by tourists departing by air was estimated at 2,401,666, a decrease of 1.5 per cent when compared to the corresponding period last year.

Expenditure on package travel dropped by Lm3.2 million to an estimated Lm40.6 million, a decline of 7.2 per cent. Non-package tourists spent Lm10.3 million on air fares and Lm7 million on accommodation, pushing up total expenditure on non-package travel by about Lm1.5 million, or 9.2 per cent.

Other expenditure by both package and non-package tourists went up by 2.5 per cent to Lm29 million.

Overall, total tourist expenditure decreased by Lm1 million, or 1.2 per cent, the NSO said.

Inbound tourism in April alone was estimated at 97,784, an increase of 10.8 per cent.

Tourists departing by air were estimated at 97,124, an additional 11.1 per cent.

The Italian, British and German markets registered increases, altogether making up 62.6 per cent of the total market.