25% increase in number of tourists in first two months

Total inbound visitors for February were estimated at 103,899, an increase of 27.7% when compared to the corresponding month in 2016, the National Statistics Office said yesterday.

A total of 81,706 inbound tourist trips were carried out for holiday purposes, while a further 14,691 were undertaken for business purposes. Inbound tourists from EU Member States went up by 30.6% to 90,472 when compared to the corresponding month in 2016. The majority of inbound tourists were aged between 25 and 44, followed by those within the 45-64 age bracket.

Total nights spent went up by 15.7% when compared to February 2016, amounting to 672,727 nights. The largest share of guest nights (67.5%) was spent in collective accommodation establishments. Tourist nights in private accommodation increased by 24.8% when compared to February 2016.

Total tourist expenditure was estimated at €69.9 million, an increase of 20.8% over the corresponding month in 2016.

January-February 2017

Inbound tourist trips for the first two months of 2017 reached 207,968, an increase of 25.4% over the same period in 2016. Total nights spent by inbound tourists went up by 13.9%, surpassing 1.4 million nights.

Total tourism expenditure was estimated at €140.7 million, 14.3% higher than that recorded in 2016. Total expenditure per capita stood at €677, a decrease of 8.8% when compared to 2016.