Tourist arrivals grew by just over 10% last month, although there was a 3.5% dip in arrivals from the UK, official figures issued today show.

The NSO said 129,378 tourists came to Malta in June, an increase of 10.2% over June last year.

The increase primarily reflected a rise in the French, Italian and Spanish markets, while tourists coming from the UK, the USA and Belgium registered decreases.

The UK market had shown growth in the Spring but operators had expected a dip in view of the weak Sterling.

Total nights spent increased by 12.5% when compared to the same month in 2007. Year on year, total nights spent in private and collective accommodation increased by 18.2 and 10.5% respectively. Overall, the average length of stay was 8.4 nights, up by 0.2 nights when compared to June 2007.

The figures for the first half of the year show a 15% increase in arrivals to 577,313. Much of the increase came from the German, Italian and Spanish markets while there were decreases from the American, Libyan, and Russian markets.

Although there was an increase in repeat tourism, data showed that the overall increase in the period under review was mainly brought about by a rise in first-time visits, with the latter estimated to account for 68.6 per cent of total visits, the NSO said.. The largest age bracket comprised tourists aged 45-64, although the strongest increase was attributable to the 25-44 age bracket.