Tourists visiting Malta dropped by 19.1 per cent last month, reaching 51,643, when compared to the same period last year.
The amount of money they spent also dropped, by 20.9 per cent, to €34.3 million, when compared to the €43.4 million in January 2008, the National Statistics Office reported.
The Parliamentary Secretary for Tourism, Mario de Marco blamed the drop on the international financial crisis and the decrease in airlines' seat capacities this winter.
According to the Official Airline Guide, he said, there were 83,000 fewer flights operated by airlines within the EU this winter when compared to the previous one.
The NSO's report pointed out that the drop in tourists was mainly due to a decrease in holidaymakers from the United Kingdom, France and Germany; 85.6 per cent of tourists came from the European Union.
The survey also showed that the majority of tourists were between 45- and 64-years-old, followed by those aged between 25 and 44.
The number of nights spent on the island fell by 4.6 per cent. Year on year, the number of nights spent in private accommodation (such as rented apartments) rose by 3.6 per cent but those spent in collective accommodation (such as hotels and guesthouses) fell by 8.3 per cent.
Dr de Marco emphasised the need to evaluate the results in the light of the two successive record years.
"In effect, we are eating into 2008's gain and retrenching to 2007 levels, given that the number of tourist arrivals in January 2009 is 12,000 fewer than January 2008 but on the same levels as those reached in January 2007 (51,643 in 2009, 63,850 in 2008, 51,736 in 2007).
"Insofar as total nights in January spent by tourists are concerned, the drop compared with January 2008 is of 23,2000 nights (less 4.6 per cent), but there is in effect a gain of 39,031 nights (plus 8.75 per cent) over January 2007 (484,626 in 2009, 507,826 in 2008, 445,595 in 2007). This shows that notwithstanding the current difficulties, the industry is still holding its ground," Dr de Marco explained.
In contrast to the latest report, the NSO last week reported that the number of cruise liner passengers who visited Malta last month rose sharply over the previous two Januarys, reaching 12,580. That's up from just 2,193 in January last year and 1,398 in January 2007.
Reacting to this set of statistics, the Labour Party's spokesman on tourism, Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, urged the statistics office to collect more detailed information on cruise passengers to determine whether they actually left their mark on the tourism industry.
She suggested that statistics should include passenger activity when ashore and their impression on places they visited and facilities used.