A record 1,243,510 visited the Maltese Islands last year, topping the previous record reached in 2000

Tourism Performance January to December 2007

January to December 2007 registered a record number of inbound tourists estimated at 1,243,510, an increase of 10.6% or 119,275 tourists over the corresponding period a year ago. This growth was primarily attributable to an increase in holiday visits, mainly from the British, Scandinavian and Irish markets, 87.1% of all inbound tourists originated from EU Member States.

Repeat tourism increased by 9.6%. However, the overall increase in inbound figures was primarily characterised by a rise in first-time visits, accounting for 67.8% of the total. The largest age bracket comprised tourists aged 45 to 64; however, in absolute terms the strongest increase was attributable to tourists aged 25 to 44. Total nights spent increased by 3.3% reaching 11,016,993. These include an increase of 4.9% in nights spent in private accommodation and an increase of 2.8% in nights spent in collective accommodation. The average length of stay decreased from 9.5 nights in 2006 to 8.9 nights in 2007.

Total tourist expenditure is estimated at Lm454.2 million, an increase of 6.0% over the same period in 2006. This increase was underpinned by higher non-package and other expenditure. Although the majority of tourists visiting Malta are still opting for package travel (54.9%), direct bookings and non-package stays are exhibiting an increasing trend. Per capita total expenditure is estimated at Lm373, a decrease of 3.6% when compared to the same period a year ago.

tourists visiting Malta

	December		January-December
	2007	%change from '06	2007	%change from '06
total tourists	51,532	+10.9	1,243,510	+10.6
total nights	392,669	-9.6	11,016,993	+3.3
average length of stay (nights)	7.6	-18.3	8.9	-6.3
total expenditure (in Lm'000s)	13,727	-3.4	454,230	6.0

Source: NSO Tourstat Survey

distribution of tourist departures: january-december 2006-2,007

country of residence	2006 total	2007 total	absolute change	% change	% of total
austria	23,540	20,384	-3,156	-13.4	1.6
belgium	29,077	26,456	-2,621	-9.0	2.1
france	73,400	75,149	1,749	2.4	6.0
germany	125,810	130,049	4,239	3.4	10.5
ireland	15,378	28,130	12,752	82.9	2.3
italy	112,548	113,651	1,103	1.0	9.1
libya	9,198	9,259	61	0.7	0.7
netherlands	37,832	34,783	-3,049	-8.1	2.8
russia	21,770	22,909	1,139	5.2	1.8
scandinavia	73,683	87,281	13,598	18.5	7.0
switzerland	21,403	22,023	620	2.9	1.8
uk	431,343	482,404	51,061	11.8	38.8
usa	16,969	20,423	3,454	20.4	1.6
others	132,284	170,609	38,325	29.0	13.7
total	1,124,235	1,243,510	119,275	10.6	100.0

Source: NSO Tourstat Survey