Tourist arrivals, spending, increase in July

Tourist arrivals last month totalled  161,648, up by 1.3 per cent when compared to the corresponding month last year.

The majority of inbound tourists came from EU Member States, in particular from the euro area. Tourists from Non-EU countries increased by 15 per cent. The UK and Italian markets continued to be the main origins of inbound tourism, despite
a decrease registered for the latter.

Tourists spent over 1.5 million nights in Malta, with an average length of stay estimated at 9.7 nights, at par with last year's levels. Guest nights in private accommodation increased by 3 per cent. However, the majority of inbound tourist nights were spent in hotels.
78 per cent of tourists stayed for at least a week.
 
Total expenditure reached €172 million, a rise of 6 per cent over July 2010. The growth in package and other expenditure was contrasted by a reduction in non-package expenditure.

January-July 2011

Inbound tourists during the first seven months this year were estimated at 780,432, up by 10 percent over the corresponding period in 2010, the NSO said. This was mostly attributed to a growth in holiday visits, mainly from the French, Belgian and Dutch markets. In absolute terms, the main origin for inbound
tourist trips continued to be the UK market. A significant decrease was recorded in the Libyan market, due to the suspension of the air and sea traffic. Most inbound tourists came from EU Member States, while tourists from Non-EU countries advanced by 33 per cent.

The majority of inbound tourists opted for non-package travel. D A substantial increase was noted at both ends of the age spectrum, namely the 0-24 and
the 65+ categories. On a gender basis male tourists exceeded female ones, and accounted for 53 per cent of the total.

The number of nights spent was estimated at 6.1 million, up by 7 per cent when compared to the corresponding period in 2010. The majority of guest nights were spent in collective accommodation establishments, where an increase of 6 per cent was recorded over last year.

Total nights spent in private accommodation advanced by 11 per cent. The average length of stay stood at 7.8 nights, a decrease of 0.2 of a night over 2010 estimates.

Total tourist expenditure during this period was estimated at €640 million, an increase of 13 per cent over 2010 levels. Increases were recorded throughout all expenditure categories, contributing an increase in per capita expenditure of 2 per cent, which reached €820