With cheap flights flying from more cities, the local tourism industry is experiencing an encouraging boost over last year's record breaking figures

Tourism Performance January to March 2008

March saw an increase in tourists visiting Malta of 27% compounded with an increase in nights spent by 21.1%, however the average length of stay decreased to 8.0 nights. March still registered an increase in total expenditure of 13.3%. The first three months of this year the number of inbound tourists rose by 22% resulting in an increase of 13% on the total nights spent even though the average stay per tourist decreased from 8.7 to 8.0 nights. Expenditure over this period increased by 4.9%

March 2008

An increase in holiday makers from Germany, Italy and Spain has boosted tourism by 27.0% in March over the same month a year ago, reaching 90,504 inbound tourists. The UK market registered an increase of 6.1%. Nonetheless, visitors from Ireland, the Netherlands and Libya registered decreases. The total number of nights spent in March increased by 21.1% but the average length of stay, calculated at 8.0 nights, was 0.4 nights shorter than March 2007. Total expenditure, estimated at €62.4 million, has increased by 13.3%.

January–March 2008

The first three months of 2008 recorded an increase in inbound tourists by 22.0% or 38,127 tourists when compared with the same period a year ago. A total of 211,689 are estimated to have visited Malta during this period. This growth was primarily attributable to an increase in holiday visits, mainly from German (+56.2%), Italian (+44.5%) and Spanish (+288.2%) markets. By contrast, a decline from the British market was registered (-1.0%). This was mostly due to the termination of operations by British Jet early in 2008. Other decreases came from the Russian (-20.1%) and Libyan (-14.7%) markets. 87.9% of all inbound tourists originated from EU Member States.

Repeat tourism increased by 11.6%. However, the overall increase in inbound figures was primarily characterised by a rise in first-time visits (+28.2%), accounting for 65.6% of the total. The largest age bracket comprised tourists aged 45 to 64 (with a share of 42.2%); however, in absolute terms the strongest increase was attributable to tourists aged 25 to 44.

Total nights spent increased by 13.0% reaching 1,700,103. Although nights spent in collective accommodation encompass the largest share (76.7%), the main increase occurred in the nights spent in private accommodation registering an increase of 37.6%. Nights spent in collective accommodation increased by 7.2% - the largest increase occurred within the ‘other collective accommodation’ category comprising aparthotels, guesthouses, hostels and tourist villages. On the contrary, nights spent in 3-star hotel accommodation decreased by 15.6%. Although the total number of nights spent increased, the average length of stay, decreased from 8.7 nights in 2007 to 8.0 nights in 2008. ‘Holiday’ remains the main purpose of visit, accounting for 82.0% of total visits. Business trips, estimated at 25,180, increased by 17.8%.

Total tourist expenditure is estimated at €142.7 million, an increase of 4.9% over 2007. The growth in non-package and other expenditure was offset by a reduction in package expenditure. In fact, as from 2008, the number of tourists visiting Malta on direct bookings and non-package trips have exceeded package ones, the latter now accounting for 46.0% of the total.

tourists visiting Malta

	MARCH		JANUARY–MARCH
	2008	%change from '07	2008	%change from '07
total tourists	90,504	+27.0%	211,689	+22.0%
total nights	726,289	+21.1%	1,700,103	+13.0%
average length of stay (nights)	8.0	-4.8%	8.0	-8.0%
total expenditure (in €'000s)	62,431	+13.3%	142,653	+4.9%

Source: NSO Tourstat Survey, March 2008