Drop in tourist arrivals in August - growth in MIA passenger numbers in September
Tourist arrivals in August decreased by 1.9 per cent, the first drop in more than a year and an apparent indication that financial woes in Malta's source markets are starting to have an impact. A total of 191,583 tourists came to Malta in August. The...
Tourist arrivals in August decreased by 1.9 per cent, the first drop in more than a year and an apparent indication that financial woes in Malta's source markets are starting to have an impact.
A total of 191,583 tourists came to Malta in August.
The National Statistics Office said Malta saw a decline of 5.1 per cent in total nights spent by tourists in August, bringing the average length of stay down by 0.3 of a night.
The NSO said first-time visitors accounted for 72 per cent of inbound tourists. In line with previous months, 87 per cent of inbound tourists came from EU Member States, and in particular from the euro area. Tourists coming from countries outside the EU increased by 11 per cent. The main markets for inbound tourism remained the UK and Italy, despite a drop in Italian tourists (-18 per cent). On the other hand, the German and British markets experienced increases.
Total nights spent during August were estimated at 1.9 million, down by 5 per cent when compared to last year. Decreases were reported in the number of nights spent in private and in other collective accommodation.
The average length of stay was estimated at 10.0 nights, down by 0.3 of a night when compared with 2010. Moreover, the number of tourists choosing short stays of up to three nights increased by 17 per cent, while tourists staying for more than seven nights went down by 4 per cent.
Total tourist expenditure was estimated at nearly €210 million, resulting in a slight increase in comparison with 2010. Decreases were recorded in package and non-package expenditure categories and an increase was registered in other expenditure.
January-August 2011
Inbound tourists during the first eight months this year totalled 972,014, an increase of 7 per cent over 2010. In absolute terms, this growth was mostly attributable to an increase in holiday visits, mainly from the UK market. On the other hand, decreases were recorded in the Italian, Libyan and
Spanish markets.
Increases were recorded in both the number of repeat tourists and in the number of first-time visitors. The majority of tourists opted for non-package travel; yet an increase in package trips was registered.
The largest proportion of inbound passengers were aged between 45 and 64 and were closely followed by those within the 25-44 age bracket.
Total nights spent between January and August increased by 4 per cent, reaching nearly 8 million nights. Guest nights in collective accommodation went up by 3 per cent, while nights spent in private accommodation, increased by 6 per cent.
Meanwhile, Malta International Airport reported having achieved a record in passenger movements last month.
Passenger movements at Malta International Airport in September reached 382,389, an increase of 2.4% over September 2010.
This increase was achieved with a seat capacity of 459,425 seats, 7.8% less seats than in the same period last year.
In September, aircraft movements decreased by 10.6% over the corresponding period last year, whereas the average seat load factor increased by 8.2 percentage points to reach 83.2% - up from the 75% registered in September 2010. The maximum take-off weight (MTOW) was 7.4% lower than that registered in September last year, whilst cargo and mail was 7.1% higher than that recorded during the same month in 2010.
In this same month, the German, French and UK markets grew by 22%, 10.2% and 3.1% respectively, whereas the Italian and Spanish markets registered a decline during September – in fact, passenger movements in these markets were respectively 5.6% and 1% less than the same period last year.
January – September 2011
The results for the first nine months of the year, in terms of passenger movements, show an increase of 7.6% when compared to the same period last year, totalling 2,781,802 passenger movements. The increase of 4.7 percentage points in the seat load factor – which for the period January to September 2011 stands at 76.1% - together with the marginal increase of 1.1% in seat capacity was the main driver of this result.
Results
|
|
1 Sept – 30 Sept 2011 |
% Change* |
1 Jan – 30 Sept 2011 |
% Change* |
|
Passenger Movements |
382,389 |
2.4% |
2,781,802 |
7.6% |
|
Aircraft Movements |
2,767 |
-10.6% |
22,164 |
-1.4% |
|
Cargo and Mail (in tonnes) |
1,299 |
7.1% |
11,749 |
-4.8% |
|
Seat Capacity |
459,425 |
-7.8% |
3,657,052 |
1.1% |
|
Seat Load Factor |
83.2% |
8.2 PPD |
76.1% |
4.7 PPD |
|
MTOW (in tonnes) |
228,090 |
-7.4% |
1,822,370 |
-1% |
Top Destinations (by Country)
|
|
Country |
1 Sept – 30 Sept 2011
|
% Change*
|
1 Jan – 30 Sept 2011
|
% Change*
|
|
1 |
UNITED KINGDOM |
118,275 |
3.1% |
846,191 |
5.1% |
|
2 |
ITALY |
63,197 |
-5.6% |
495,182 |
-2.2% |
|
3 |
GERMANY |
55,821 |
22% |
395,422 |
23.2% |
|
4 |
FRANCE |
24,005 |
10.2% |
164,943 |
10.9% |
|
5 |
SPAIN |
20,555 |
-1% |
149,093 |
5.6% |
Top Destinations (by Airport)
|
|
Airport |
1 Sept – 30 Sept 2011 |
% Change* |
1 Jan – 30 Sept 2011 |
% Change* |
|
1 |
LONDON - GATWICK |
31,689 |
-1.3% |
217,494 |
-4.6% |
|
2 |
FRANKFURT |
21,182 |
21% |
158,553 |
14.6% |
|
3 |
ROME - FIUMICINO |
21,177 |
-3.5% |
175,347 |
-2.3% |
|
4 |
MANCHESTER |
19,732 |
-0.7% |
131,013 |
-9.1% |
|
5 |
LONDON - HEATHROW |
18,140 |
-2.7% |
152,878 |
2.7% |
* compared to same period last year
Note: With the exception of cargo and mail and MTOW, all figures relate to scheduled & non-scheduled movements, excluding General Aviation.