9 December 2013

UK remains Malta's main tourism market

Times of Malta 03/12/2013: A total of 174,225 tourists came to Malta in October, 13.2 per cent more than in the same month last year, according to Tourstat data published by the National Statistics Office.

Total nights spent here went up by 6.1 per cent to almost 1.3 million.

Excluding the 919 passengers who stayed overnight on board a berthed cruise vessel, 173,306 were departing tourists - an increase of 14 per cent when compared to 2012 levels.

The number of tourists visiting Malta for holiday purposes rose by 13 per cent to 147,825, while business tourists increased by 18 per cent to 15,442. First-time visitors advanced by 21 per cent.
Inbound tourism from EU states rose by 10 per cent, comprising 82 per cent of departing tourists. Non-EU tourists went up by 39 per cent to 31,298.

The UK remained Malta’s main tourism market, with a share of 30 per cent, despite a drop of five per cent. The German market came second, with 11 per cent. Upward shifts of 37 and 11 per cent were also registered in the French and Italian markets, respectively.

Total nights spent during October were estimated at 1.3 million. The average length of stay stood at 7.4 nights, down by 0.5 of a night when compared to October last year...read on.