Tourist arrivals jumped by 14.5% in November compared to the same month last year, and reached 100,365, the National Statistics Office said today.

Excluding the 437 passengers who stayed overnight on board a berthed cruise vessel, 99,928 came to Malta last month.

During the month under review, 79,902 came to Malta on holiday, while a further 12,266 were here on business. 

First-time visitors accounted for the majority of inbound tourists, with an estimated 66 per cent, although there was a notable increase in repeat tourism.

Inbound tourism from EU Member States rose by 12 per cent while the number of non-EU tourists advanced by 44 per cent to 18,405.

Total nights spent by departing tourists during November went up by 15 per cent, reaching 751,284. The average length of stay stood at 7.5 nights, marginally down by 0.2 of a night when compared to last year’s levels. The majority of guest nights were spent in hotels, where an increase of 16 per cent was recorded.

Total expenditure during November also rose by 11 per cent over last year to €77 million.

Between January and November, the number of tourists was up b 10% and exceeded the  the 1.5 million mark, an all time record.

In absolute terms, the main origin of inbound tourists remained the British market. A significant increase was also recorded in the Libyan, Austrian, Russian, Italian and Swiss markets. On the other hand, the Spanish market dropped by 12 per cent.