62% decline in tourism arrivals in first half of 2021 – NSO

Total inbound visitors for June 2021 were estimated at 70,300, while total nights spent amounted to 639,768, the NSO said.

During the month under review, a total of 59,639 inbound tourists visited Malta for holiday purposes, followed by 6,606 tourists for business purposes. Almost half of the inbound tourists were aged between 25 and 44 years (48.4 per cent), followed by those within the 45-64 age bracket (24.3 per cent). French and Italian residents comprised 34.4 per cent of total inbound tourists.

The largest share of guest nights (73.1 per cent) was spent in rented accommodation establishments. The average length of stay of total inbound tourists stood at 9.1 nights (Table 1). Total tourist expenditure during the month under review reached nearly €60.1 million. When taking into account the total number of inbound tourists visiting Malta during June 2021, this equates to an average expenditure per tourist of €854.

January-June 2021

Inbound tourists for the first six months of 2021 amounted to 139,687, a decrease of 62.3 per cent over the same period in 2020.

Total nights spent by inbound tourists decreased by 30.5 per cent, surpassing 1.5 million nights. Total tourism expenditure was estimated at €120.4 million, a decrease of 46.4 per cent when compared to 2020. Total expenditure per capita stood at €862, increasing from €607 in the same period in 2020, mainly as a result of the longer average length of stays.