Tourist arrivals in September surged by 9.3 per cent from September 2013 and reached 193,138 visitors, the National Statistics Office said today.

Excluding the passengers who stayed overnight on board their berthed cruise ship, this increase amounted to 5.1 per cent.

164,579 visitors came to Malta for holiday purposes, while a further 12,739 came for business. Inbound tourists from EU Member States went up by 7.5 per cent to 158,545. The largest proportion of inbound tourists were aged between 25 and 44, closely followed by those within the 45-64 age bracket.

Total nights spent went up by 6.1 per cent when compared to September 2013, reaching 1,546,749 nights. The largest share of guest nights was spent in hotels.

Total tourist expenditure was estimated at €186.3 million, an increase of 8.8 per cent over the corresponding month last year.

January-September 2014

Inbound tourism from January to September amounted to 1,363,859, an increase of 9.0 per cent over the same period in 2013. Total nights spent by inbound tourists went up by 5.0 per cent, reaching 10.8 million nights.

During the period under review, total tourism expenditure was estimated at €1.2 billion, 6.8 per cent higher than that recorded for the same period in 2013. Total per capita expenditure stood at €921, a decrease of 1.1 per cent when compared to last year’s levels