Tourist arrivals in August were estimated at 239,343, an increase of 9.4 per cent compared to the same month last year, the National Statistics Office said.

It said that excluding the passengers who stayed overnight on board their berthed cruise ship, this increase amounted to 7.7 per cent.

A total of 210,916 inbound visits were carried out for holiday purposes, while a further 5,846 were undertaken for business purposes. Inbound tourists from EU states went up by 10 per cent, reaching 203,435.

Total tourist expenditure was estimated at €257.5 million, an increase of 4.6 per cent over the same month last year.

Arrivals between January to August amounted to 1,170,721, an increase of nine per cent over the same period last year.

Total nights spent went up by 4.9 per cent, reaching 9.3 million.

During the period under review, total tourism expenditure was estimated at €1.1 billion, 6.5 per cent higher than that recorded for the corresponding period in 2013.

Total per capita expenditure stood at €908, a decrease of 1.7 per cent when compared to last year’s levels.