Tourist arrivals up 1.2% in August
Tourism arrivals increased by 1.2 percent in August, despite a drop of almost 16 percent in the all important UK market, figures issued this morning by the NSO showed.
Much of the drop was compensated by growth in arrivals from Germany, Scandinavia and Italy.
Year on year, total nights spent decreased by 0.4 per cent last month.
The NSO said a total of 178,570 visitors came to Malta last month. Almost 88 percent were here on holiday.
Year on year, total nights spent in private accommodation decreased by 9.1 per cent, while hotels registered an increase of 5.1 percent. The average length of stay was 10.8 nights, down by 0.1 nights when compared to August 2007.
Tourist arrivals between January and August totalled 905,374, an increase of 9.6 percent over the corresponding period a year ago. The growth was mostly attributable to an increase in holiday visits, mainly from the German, Italian and Spanish markets. On the other hand decreases were recorded in the British, American and Libyan markets.
The largest age bracket comprised tourists aged 25-44, followed by those in the 45-64 age bracket. Total nights spent increased by 5.2 per cent when compared to the same period in 2007.
Total tourist expenditure was estimated at €732.6 million, an increase of 1.1 per cent over 2007. The growth in non-package was contrasted by a reduction in package expenditure. Per capita total expenditure was estimated at €820, down by 8.7 per cent when compared to the corresponding period last year
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Joseph Cauchi
Sep 30th 2008, 15:54
It is nice to hear that Tourism is doing relatively well in Malta and that the increase is compared to that of August 2007, when the low cost carriers were already providing the service. Let's hope this trend continues.
One of the main factors that many tourists are showing concern in, is the fear of Malta losing one of its main characteristics, and that is "peace of mind". Tourists with young children feel very safe in Malta, and thank God for that!
It has been reported in the media and also in these columns, that the problem of illegal immigration may unfortunately tarnish our image as a safe tourist destination !
Let's us hope this will not be the case, but we must ensure that our islands remain safe and where absolute PEACE OF MIND reigns.
Tourism is a very import industry for Malta and many thousands of Maltese citizens owe their living from it.
We should do our utmost NOT TO KILL THE GOOSE THAT LAYS THE GOLDEN EGG ! ! !
Once this industry is lost, then it is no use crying over spilt milk !
L-Ghasfur ikun tar ! ! !
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J Portelli
Sep 30th 2008, 14:08
It is reported that growth was due to new market. Its good news. It tells us that marketing in new lands is reaching more people. It does not tell us how well we are doing in the tourist trade services and provisions.
What are the statistics for the repeat tourists ? This is ultimately the best feedback on our Maltese Tourism Quality.
When an enterprise has a customer the aim is to retain there business and this is done through continous improvement of the enterprise's service which will lead to real growth and long term business. Without feedback, we are just like a port, where one is counted simply because the travellling vessel called in to refuel or pick someone up. Hence most of the worlds port's have a bad name because they become run down as they just count numbers and not returning / pleased visitors.