The number of people travelling abroad in May totalled 22,937 – a drop of 3.4 per cent over the same month last year, according to figures published by the National Statistics Office.

Outbound trips towards EU countries totalled 19,960 while a further 2,978 headed towards non-EU destinations. Both markets registered decreases, of three and seven per cent respectively.

Italy and the UK continued to be the most popular destinations among Maltese residents, with market shares of 32 and 23 per cent.

When compared to May 2012, the Italian market advanced by 24 per cent, whereas the British market decreased by 14 per cent.

Italy and the UK remained the two most popular destinations, and shared between them 59 per cent of the total outbound tourism market.

The majority of outbound tourists were males (61 per cent) with 40 per cent falling into the 25 to 44-year-old age bracket, followed by those in the 45 to 64 category (33 per cent).

Outbound tourism between January and May stood at 121,044 – an increase of 11 per cent compared to the previous year.

An estimated 86 per cent of outbound tourists chose to visit EU destinations. Both EU and non-EU trips registered increases, reaching totals of 104,286 and 16,758 respectively.

Almost all European markets showed an improvement, except for the German market, which decreased by 11 per cent.

At 41 per cent, the largest share of outbound tourists fell within the 25 to 44 age group.

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