Maltese travellers spend an average of €125 per night while abroad, the NSO said today. It said that in the first six months of the year the total budgeted expenditure by outbound tourists stood at €105.5 million

The NSO said that the number of Maltese going abroad in June increased by 23.5 per cent over the same month last year to reach 24,300.

20,762 of those trips were to EU destinations.

Both markets (EU and non-EU) registered increases over 2009. Almost all EU destinations recorded upward movements, with the exception of the UK. The largest increase was recorded in the Italian market.

As in previous years, the majority of outbound tourists were men, while the largest proportion of outbound trips were made by those in the 25-44 age bracket, standing at 10,761.

The number of outbound passengers for the first six months of the year was 116,787, up by 5 per cent when compared to last year.

The most popular countries for this period remained the UK and Italy, similar to 2008 and 2009. Trips to EU destinations had an average length of stay of 6.4 nights, while the average for non-EU countries stood at 12 nights.

A substantial increase was noted in the 0-24 age group of travellers, which almost doubled when compared to 2009.