Heard the one about the Italian who went to Malta? He may be more likely than his British counterpart to get slapped when asking a waitress for a fork, but chances are he is much younger too.

Data provided by the National Statistics Office showed a significant difference in the age demographics of visitors from Malta’s two main tourism markets: the UK and Italy.

Last year, two-thirds of all Italian tourists were aged between zero and 44 years, whereas almost two-thirds of British visitors were above this threshold.

A spokesman for the Tourism Ministry said the reasons for this were threefold.

Malta has built a strong base of loyal, repeat customers, who obviously grow older with every year that passes

“The first relates to Malta’s status as an established, mature destination in the UK as against its more recent positioning in the Italian market. As a result, within the UK, Malta has built a strong base of loyal, repeat customers, who obviously grow older with every year that passes,” he said.

High volumes of Italian tourists is a more recent phenomenon, meaning a strong base of older, repeat visitors has yet to emerge.

The second reason stems from the type of air services linking Malta with Italy and the UK, the Tourism Ministry spokesman said.

“Whereas in the UK, there is a mix of legacy, charter and low-cost airline operations and the continued importance of tour operators dependent on an older age-group of traveller, in Italy a huge share of the direct air links to Malta are operated by low-cost carriers which tend to attract a more independent, younger profile of traveller,” he continued.

The average age of Italian visitors is also pulled downwards by the relatively large number of English-language students: a niche market which obviously does not attract visitors from the UK.

Britain remains Malta’s number one inbound tourism market, with 454,659 Brits visiting the island last year, according to NSO figures.

Of these, 111,960 were aged over 65, and 175,443 were aged between 45 and 64. Just 62,353 British visitors were aged 24 and below.

For Italian tourists the demographic was the complete opposite: out of 233,777 Italian visitors in total, 67,458 were aged 24 and under, while 87,300 were between 45 and 64 years of age.

Just 15,012 Italian visitors were older than 64 in 2013.

The Tourism Ministry pointed out that the 0-24 segment among British tourists grew by 12 per cent in 2013 over 2012. The 25-44 segment also grew by 12 per cent. The average age of British tourists was 59.

“Our challenge in the UK is to sustain our strength within the older age-groups while increasingly positioning ourselves as a destination which is attractive to a younger age group,” the spokesman said.

“This is being carried out by reinforcing the image of Malta as a hip destination with an attractive city-break offer inclusive of activities, authentic cuisine and a sophisticated quality of life wrapped into an attractive weather package.”

Fuelled by an increase in low-cost routes, the number of annual Italian visitors has rocketed from 161,737 in 2009 to 233,777 last year.

Ryanair flew between Malta and seven Italian destinations last summer.

Easyjet flew to Rome and Milan Malpensa, while Air Malta also offered competitive fares on its Catania and Milan routes.

In terms of Malta’s other core markets, a significant majority of French and Spanish visitors last year were aged 44 and below, while the opposite was true for German tourists.

Despite whisperings that Malta is becoming an Ibiza-style party island, the average aged of tourists of all nationalities last year was 55.

Inbound tourists by age group