Number of inbound tourists in first seven months reaches nearly 90% of pre-Covid year – NSO

Total inbound tourists for July 2022 were estimated at 273,646, while total nights spent amounted to 2,274,414, the NSO said Wednesday

Inbound Tourism: July 2022

During the month under review, a total of 247,029 inbound tourists visited Malta for holiday purposes, and 11,092 tourists came for business purposes. The largest share of inbound tourists were aged between 0 and 24 (36.7 per cent), followed by the 25-44 age bracket (36.2 per cent).

Italian, French and German residents made up 37.3 per cent of total inbound tourists. The largest share of guest nights (83.6 per cent) was spent in rented accommodation establishments. The average length of stay of total inbound tourists stood at 8.3 nights. Total tourist expenditure reached €275.0 million. The average expenditure per night was estimated at €120.9.

January-July 2022

During the first seven months of 2022, inbound tourists amounted to 1,168,741, while the total nights spent nearly reached 8.3 million nights. Total tourist expenditure was estimated at €970.9 million. Total expenditure per capita stood at €831, decreasing from €946 in 2021.

COVID-19 recovery

Comparison can be made between 2019 and 2022 July data to quantify the recovery of inbound tourism from the effects of the pandemic. The year 2019 will be used here as the reference year for the pre-COVID-19 situation. Total inbound tourists for the month under review have reached 89.9 per cent of those registered pre-COVID-19, and the associated nights spent made up 94.3 per cent of the respective figure. The highest recovery can be seen in the 0-24 age bracket (106.9 per cent) and the lowest recovery is associated with the 65+ age bracket (75.7 per cent).

The segment of inbound tourists visiting Malta for other purposes experienced a better recovery (95.0 per cent) than that of tourists visiting Malta for business (90.1 per cent) and holiday (89.6 per cent) purposes. Total tourist expenditure has reached 96.5 per cent of its respective pre-COVID-19 value.