Tourist arrivals in December were estimated at 66,619, an increase of 1.4 per cent when compared to the same month in 2013.

Excluding the passengers who stayed overnight on board their berthed cruise ship, total arrivals amounted to 66,232.

A total of 53,136 inbound visits were carried out for holiday purposes, while a further 8,176 were undertaken for business.

Inbound tourists from EU states went up by 7.7 per cent to 55,512. The largest proportion of inbound tourists were aged between 45 and 64, followed by those within the 25-44 age bracket.

Total nights spent went up by 3.1 per cent when compared to December 2013, reaching 585,264.

Total tourist expenditure was estimated at €51.7 million, an increase of 4.4 per cent more than in the same month in 2013.

Arrivals throughout last year amounted to 1,714,533, an increase of 7.8 per cent over 2013. Total nights went up by 4.9 per cent, reaching 13.5 million.

Total tourism expenditure was estimated at €1.5 billion, 6.1 per cent higher than that
recorded for the same period in 2013. Total per capita expenditure stood at
€905, slightly less than in 2013.