Wednesday, 30th April 2008 - 11:38CET
Tourism grows, but fewer Britons coming to Malta
Tourist arrivals grew by 27 percent in March compared to March 2007, while total tourist nights increased by 21.1 percent, official figures issued today show.
Arrivals have been increasing since last year, but March had the added boost of having Easter this year.
The National Statistics Office said 90,504 tourists came to Malta in March, reflecting primarily a rise in holiday makers, mainly from the German, Italian and Spanish markets. Arrivals from the UK, by far the biggest market, dropped six percent to 31,126.
There were fewer tourists from Ireland, the Netherlands and Spain.
Year on year, total nights spent in both private and collective accommodation increased by 23.7 and 20.5 percent respectively. The average length of stay was eight nights, shorter by 0.4 nights when compared to March 2007.
The total number of tourists who came to Malta between January and March was 211,689, an increase of 38,127, or 22.0 percent over the corresponding period a year ago. The biggest market remained the UK, which yielded 76,000 tourists, one percent less than the 2007 quarter.
There was growth, however, in arrivals from the German, Italian and Spanish markets.
Just under 88 percent of tourists came from EU countries. Although there was an increase in repeat tourism, the overall increase was the result of first-time visits, which accounted for 65.6 percent of total visits.
The largest age bracket comprised tourists aged 45-64.
Per capita total expenditure was estimated at €684, down by 14.2 per cent when compared to the corresponding period in the preceding year.
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Comments
We will be coming from England in June again, anyway !
That is practically impossible now as it is like trying to collect the feathers of a pigeon after you released them during a windy day !!
Time will tell who was telling the truth on this matter. Hopefully when Malta wins the next ruling on the case itself.
After all many Maltese hunters will buy out hunting vacations in the UK so the least the Brits can do is reciprocate.
Mr. Daley would not notice the weakness of the sterling other than rising prices in the UK where, I hope that he complains with equal vigour. Since when does a country have a guarantee that a certain number of tourists come from a particular country year in year out? Tourism is a fluid industry and one should not be overly excited if there is a drop in number from one particular sector.
The same report r. Daley read also states that there was a remarkable 27% overall increase in tourists for the month of March with sharp increases coming from Germany, Italy and Spain. Surprise! These three countries have the euro as their currency and their travellers have one less headache to worry about - the conversion to another currency.
While we always welcomed and will continue to welcome British tourists, it is the bottom line that counts. Whether the increasing numbers come from Britain, Spain, Germany, Italy or France, what matters is that they continue to support our tourism industry which keeps thousands gainfully employed
Someone might say other countries that have adopted the euro have the same problem. Yes, quite right, and not, because the euro is controlled by the big players in the EU, like France, and Germany. This is one of the reasons that the British do not want to adopt the euro!