Number of tourists up 24% in first three months – NSO

Total inbound visitors for March were estimated at 141,266 an increase of 22.3 per cent when compared to the corresponding month in 2016, the NSO said yesterday.

Inbound Tourism: March 2017

A total of 105,080 inbound tourist trips were carried out for holiday purposes, while a further 20,017 were undertaken for business purposes. Inbound tourists from EU Member States went up by 23.4 per cent to 123,063 when compared to the corresponding month in 2016. The majority of inbound tourists were aged between 45 and 64, closely followed by those within the 25-44 age bracket.

Total nights spent went up by 6.8 per cent when compared to March 2016, amounting to 856,920 nights. The largest share of guest nights (70.3 per cent) was spent in collective accommodation establishments. Tourist nights in private accommodation increased by 9.2 per cent when compared to March 2016.

Total tourist expenditure was estimated at €96.5 million, an increase of 11.8 per cent over the corresponding month in 2016.

January-March 2017

Inbound tourist trips from January to March 2017 reached 348,890, an increase of 24.0 per cent over the same period in 2016. Total nights spent by inbound tourists went up by 11.1 per cent, reaching nearly 2.3 million nights.

Total tourism expenditure was estimated at €237.2 million, 13.3 per cent higher than that recorded for 2016. Total expenditure per capita stood at €680, a decrease of 8.6 per cent when compared to 2016.