Travel & Tourism
Inbound tourism decreases
By MaltaMedia News
Jul 31, 2006, 12:53

In June 2006, inbound tourism was estimated at 109,038, a decrease of 4.3% over the corresponding month last year. Tourists departing by air were estimated at 107,048, recording a drop of 4.6% when compared to June 2005.

In turn, between January and June 2006, total tourists reached 471,728, a decrease of 2.4 % over the comparable period last year. Tourists departing by air also decreased by 2.4 %. Expenditure on package travel also decreased by Lm1.0 million to an estimated Lm79.5 million, a decline of 1.2% over the corresponding period one year ago.

The British market registered a decrease of 16.3% reaching a share of 40.8 %of the total market. Other decreases included those recorded from the Russian, Libyan and Swedish, as well as from a group of 'other' markets.

According to the National Statistics Office (NSO) year-on-year comparisons reveal that air tourists from the German and French markets went up by 24.2% and 22.8% respectively, jointly accounting for a share of 20.2 %of the total. Other increases in tourist air departures included those from the Danish, Italian and Belgian markets. The number of holiday tourists was estimated at 89,264, a drop of 5.1% over June 2005, whereas business tourists went down to 8,320.

Between January and June 2006, total tourists reached 471,728, a decrease of 2.4% over the comparable period last year. Tourists departing by air decreased by 2.4%. The British, German and French tourists decreased by 4.3%, 4.2% and 5.0% respectively; altogether accounting for 61.4% of the total. Other drops included those from the Swedish, Libyan and Danish markets. On the other hand, Italian tourists increased by 18.9%, accounting for 7.8 % of the total. Other increases included those from the Dutch, Belgian and Norwegian markets.

During the first half of the year the number of nights spent by tourists departing by air was estimated at 4,284,014, a decrease of 3.6% when compared to the same period in 2005. The number of nights spent in hotel accommodation establishments went down by 2.8% and accounted for 68.9 %of the total nights spent. Tourists opting for an overnight stay in Gozo were estimated at 17,528 or 3.7% of total tourists in the first half of the year.

In the period under review, expenditure on package travel decreased by Lm1.0 million to an estimated Lm79.5 million, a decline of 1.2% over the corresponding period a year ago. Non-package tourists spent Lm18.4 million on airfares and Lm12.1 million on accommodation thereby decreasing total expenditure on non-package travel by approximately Lm1.6 million or 4.9 per cent.

Other expenditure from both package and non-package tourists increased by Lm0.5 million, to Lm55.5 million. Overall in the period under review total tourist expenditure decreased by Lm2.1 million or 1.2%.

See also:
Public consultation on MTA's tourism plan
By MaltaMedia News
Jul 27, 2006, 18:39 CET


Inbound tourism decreases by 8.7% in May
By MaltaMedia News
Jun 28, 2006, 12:37 CET

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