Malta sees record number of tourist visits in August
Xinhua, September 30, 2016 Adjust font size:
More than a quarter of a million tourists visited Malta in August, the Maltese government stated Thursday.
According to Maltese National Statistics Office, total inbound visitors for August were estimated at 256,782, an increase of 3.4 percent compared to August 2015.
The number of tourists from EU states went up by 2.1 percent to 220,149 when compared to the same month last year. Britain registered the largest absolute increase with 21,509 more tourists compared to same period last year, followed by Italy with 12,923 more tourists.
The majority of inbound tourists were aged between 25 and 44. However, total expenditure was estimated at 270.9 million euros (303 million U.S. dollars), a decrease of 1.9 percent over the corresponding month of 2015.
Total tourism expenditure from January to August was estimated at 1.1 billion euros, 3.6 percent higher than that recorded for 2015. But total expenditure per capita stood at 884 euros, a decrease of 4.4 percent when compared to 2015.
"The tourism industry is reaping the benefits of our strategy to diversify source markets, attract a relatively younger age tourist motivated by both leisure and business reasons," the Malta Tourism Authority said in a statement. Endit