Tourism arrivals drop by more than half in March – NSO

Total inbound visitors for March were estimated at 75,157, a decrease of 56.5 per cent when compared to the corresponding month in 2019, the NSO said.

This was largely as a result of the closure of the Malta airport in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic.

During the month under review, a total of 64,834 inbound tourist trips were undertaken for holiday purposes, while a further 5,360 were made for business purposes.

Most inbound tourists were aged between 25 and 44 years (39.0 per cent), followed by those within the 45-64 age bracket (34.8 per cent). Inbound tourists coming from the United Kingdom remained the most popular, with a share of 31.2 per cent of the total inbound tourists.

Total nights spent went down by 60.2 per cent when compared to March 2019, amounting to 442,018 nights. The largest share of guest nights (59.2 per cent) was spent in collective accommodation establishments. Total tourist expenditure was estimated at €43.6 million, a decrease of 62.6 per cent over the corresponding month in 2019.

January-March 2020 Inbound tourist trips for the first quarter of 2020 amounted to 370,216, a decrease of 13.1 per cent over the same period in 2019. Total nights spent by inbound tourists surpassed the 2.2 million nights, a drop of 20.0 per cent when compared to the same quarter of last year.

Total tourism expenditure was estimated at €224.6 million, 17.5 per cent less than that recorded during the same period in 2019. Total expenditure per capita stood at €607, a decrease of 5.2 per cent when compared to the first quarter of 2019.