The number of tourists visiting Malta went up by a staggering 30 per cent in May - but the number of business visitors went down by over 20 per cent, according to figures released by the National Statistics Office on Monday.

The net increase compared with May 2017 was 18.7 per cent. 

The figures showed that the over 65s category saw the greatest increase (48.4 per cent) while there was relatively speaking no change in 25-44 age category (6.9 per cent).

Another positive aspect was that those who visited the islands stayed longer: there was a 21.9 per cent increase in those staying 4-6 nights, and a 27.4 per cent increase in those staying a week or more, while there was no change in those who came for 1-3 nights. 

Tourists spent €197 million in May, up 16.6 per cent over the previous year.

The NSO said that the first five months of the year saw 904,799 visitors, an increase of 18.5 per cent over the same period of 2017.

 

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