Outbound tourism jumps by 9.5% in August

Outbound tourism jumped by 9.5 per cent in August compared to the same month last year, the NSO said today.

It said 31,441 overseas trips were made by Maltese residents, up by 9.5 per cent when compared to the corresponding month last year.

Trips to EU destinations stood at 26,545, while non-EU trips were estimated at 4,896. Overall trips towards EU destinations advanced by 13 per cent, albeit a drop in Italian destinations was recorded.

Trips to Non-EU destinations were down by 8 per cent.

The majority of outbound tourists were males (17,356), while the largest proportion of outbound trips were carried out by those in the 25-44 age bracket.

Same-day visitors for August were calculated at 2,940.

Between January-August 2010 outbound passengers stood at 180,404, an increase of five per cent over last year. The estimated number of outbound trips to EU countries was 154,054 (85 per cent of the total). The most visited countries were the UK and Italy, in line with the past two years. The largest proportion of outbound passengers were in the 25-44 age bracket, standing at 74,643, followed by the 45-64 age group.