Rise in foreign travel

The Maltese took holidays in June in larger numbers than they did last year, even though many shied away from the more expensive destin-ations far afield.

According to the latest official statistics, more than 25,900 outbound tourist trips took place in June – an increase of 6.7 per cent over the same month last year.

However, while nearly 92 per cent of them travelled to EU countries, a rise of 15 per cent over June 2010, only eight per cent chose to venture beyond Europe.

In fact, non-EU destinations suffered a significant 40 per cent drop compared to June 2010. Over half, 53 per cent, of the outbound tourists were men while the highest proportion of Maltese tourists were those aged between 25 and 44, followed by those aged between 45 and 64.

Between January and June, the total number of trips increased by 13 per cent to 132,489 when compared to the same period last year.

Italy was the most sought-after destination, followed by the UK.

Travellers to EU destinations had an average stay of 6.3 nights while in non-EU countries the average was 13.9 nights. Total nights spent overseas amounted to over 940,200 and the average length of stay was estimated at 7.1 nights.