Continental visitors fuel tourism growth

Tourist arrivals maintained their growth pattern last month, rising by 13.4 percent over February 2007, the NSO said.

Total nights spent increased by 1.6 percent.

The NSO said a total of 57,335 visitors came to Malta in February mainly to holiday. The growth was from the German, Spanish and Italian markets but there was a dip of 6.4 percent in tourists coming from the UK, Malta's largest market.

Meanwhile, total nights spent increased by 1.6 per cent when compared to the same month in 2007.

The number of tourists who came to Malta in January and February was 121,185, an increase of 18.5 per cent over the corresponding period a year ago. The growth was primarily attributable to an increase in holiday visits, mainly from the German, Spanish and French markets. The British market registered a decrease.

Although there was an increase in repeat tourism, the overall increase was a result of first-time visits, which accounted for 63.8 per cent of total visits.

The largest age bracket comprised tourists aged 45- 64, albeit the strongest increase was among those aged the 25-44.

In the period under review, total tourist expenditure is estimated at €80.2 million, a decrease of 0.9 per cent over 2007. The growth in non-package and other expenditure was offset by a reduction in package expenditure. As from 2008, the number of tourists visiting Malta on direct bookings and non-package trips exceeded package ones, the latter accounting for 41.8 per cent of the total.

The survey results indicate that the per capita total expenditure is estimated at €672, down by 16.2 per cent when compared to the corresponding period in the preceding year.