Growth of 19.4% in total inbound visitors for the month of June

Statistics released recently by the National Statistics Office show that inbound tourism to Malta continued to exhibit a positive performance with the total inbound visitors in June reaching 232,193, an increase of 19.4% when compared to the same month last year.

Total inbound tourists (excluding overnight cruise passengers) increased by 17.2% or 33,295 more. Substantial growth was registered in the number of tourists visiting Malta for business and professional reasons (+47.9%), first time visitors (+20.2%) and non-package type of travellers (+19.9%). The largest absolute growth came from tourists aged 25 to 44 years (+23,628). With an average length of stay of seven nights, nearly 1.6 million guest nights were generated, increasing by 9.6%. Tourists spent a total of €193.7m, €24.2m more compared to June 2016.

Cumulative data for the period January to June points to an extraordinary performance with the number of inbound tourists recording a double-digit growth of 19.3%, reaching the figure of 990,182. This was followed by noteworthy growth rates in the number of nights stayed by tourists (+11.6%) and tourist expenditure (+14.8%). Increases were registered in the number of tourists staying in both collective and private type accommodation, with the latter featuring a notable increase of 28.5%.

During the first six months of year, business tourism increased by 54.7%. This growth partly reflects the business-related tourism generated by the EU Presidency of Malta. Tourists visiting Malta for holiday reasons increased by 15.2%.

The large majority of source markets featured increased tourism flows with Italy recording the largest absolute increase of 32,239, followed by Belgium (+20,993), Germany (+15,178), France (+12,392), Spain (+11,890) and Poland (+10,154).

Paul Bugeja, chief executive officer of the Malta Tourism Authority, expressed satisfaction at the sustained growth in inbound tourism performance, in particular with the double-digit growth rate in tourist expenditure, which deeply permeates in the local economy and is beneficial to the tourism industry and the community at large.