The Malta Tourism Authority this evening welcomed the official tourism  figures for last year published by the National Statistics Office this morning and expressed satisfaction at the results obtained.

"In yet another consecutive record year for tourism, wherein the 1.4 million departing tourist benchmark was surpassed for the very first time, 2011 saw an increase of 75,357 tourists over the previous record year, 2010.

"The final figure for 2011 is thus 1,411,748 tourists, an increase of 25.6%, or 287,512 more tourists, when compared to the results achieved just five years ago.

"Moreover, last year, an increase of almost 5% was registered over 2010 vis-a-vis bed-nights (in excess of 11.5 million bed nights in total), as well as, importantly, an increase in expenditure of almost 9%, or €100 million, over the previous year. Tourist expenditure for 2011 is calculated at €1.23 billion."

The MTA said the success registered in Malta and Gozo's tourism sector last year was brought about by a number of factors, including air accessibility and seat capacity, more effective promotional and marketing efforts, an increase in marketing budgets and product investment.

But the most important factor was the constant collaboration and cooperation between stakeholders.