Updated 1.20pm with MTA statement

Tourist arrivals in August were estimated at a record 256,782, an increase of 3.4 per cent when compared to the same month last year, the National Statistics Office said.

It said 228,428 visited on holiday, 7,295 on business.

The number of tourists from EU states went up by 2.1 per cent to 220,149 when compared to the same month last year. The United Kingdom registered the largest absolute increase of 21,509 more tourists compared to same period last year, followed by Italy with 12,923 more tourists.

Significant growth in the number of inbound tourists, were also recorded from Germany, France, Scandinavia, Spain, Netherlands and US.

Total nights spent in Malta went up by 0.7 per cent when compared to August last year, amounting to 2,375,917 nights.

Total tourist expenditure was estimated at €270.9 million, a decrease of 1.9 per cent over the same month last year.

In-bound tourist trips from January to August totalled 1,308,519, an increase of 8.3 per cent over the same period last year.

Total nights spent by inbound tourists went up by 5.7 per cent, almost 10.2 million nights.

Total tourism expenditure was estimated at €1,156.9 million, 3.6 per cent higher than that recorded for 2015.

Total expenditure per capita stood at €884, a decrease of 4.4 per cent when compared to last year.

In a statement, the Malta Tourism Authority said it is very pleased with the new record achieved in inbound visitors during the first eight months of this year.

"The tourism industry is reaping the benefits of MTA’s strategy to diversify the source markets, attract a relatively younger age tourist motivated by both leisure and business reasons."