Maltese travel to the UK up by a fifth

The number of Maltese going abroad between January and April increased by 5.1 percent to 82,387, the NSO said today. Travellers to the UK were up by 21 percent

Of these, 86.7 percent travelled to EU destinations, with the most visited countries being, as usual, the UK and Italy. Travellers to the UK increased by just over a fifth, with the Maltese clearly benefiting from the low exchange value of the pound sterling for some good bargains. In contrast, travel to Italy was down 11 percent.

Outbound tourism in April alone reached 24,984, an increase of 31.2 per cent over the corresponding month in 2008, but one has to bear in mind that Easter was in April this year, and March last year.

The biggest age group of Maltese travellers was in the 25-44 age bracket.