Tourism saw an increase of almost 20,000 tourists over the previous winter

Winter tourist figures up by 7%

Tourist Departures

Between November 2006 and March 2007, total tourist departures amounted to 291,582, an increase of 7.1% or 19,349 additional tourists when compared to the same period a year ago.

Malta is performing on par with its Mediterranean growth trends and is in a much healthier position than competitors such as Cyprus. The increases registered during the period November 2006 to March 2007 can be justified in claiming a positive Winter performance. The highest increases were registered during the Christmas and Easter periods.

Total Tourist Departures November 2006 to March 2007

	Nov	Dec	Jan	Feb	Mar	Total
year 2006/07	71,535	46483	51736	50,547	71,281	291,582
year 2005/06	69,652	40,413	50,524	47,301	64,343	272,233
percentage change	2.7%	15.0%	2.4%	6.9%	10.8%	7.1%

During this period, all main source markets registered an increase, Italy in particular with an increase of 46.1% or 8,701 tourists. The main contributing factor to this increase is the additional seat capacities available on Italy-Malta route linking Malta with a number of new regions in Italy. Furthermore, the introduction of low fare airlines has improved Malta’s price competitiveness and accessibility in the major international source markets.

Tourist Departures November 2006 to March 2007

	2006		2007			Total	% change Winter'07/ Winter'06
	Nov	Dec	Jan	Feb	Mar
UK	27,609	19,741	23,112	24,411	29,325	124,198	1.6%
France	3,784	1,617	2,014	2,275	4,034	13,724	9.8%
Germany	10,787	6,060	4,468	6,155	10,077	37,547	0.2%
Italy	5,593	5,045	6,811	3.854	6,289	27,592	1.6%
Netherlands	1,687	963	1,051	853	1,704	6,258	19.7%

Source: NSO Tourstat Survey