According to the latest data from the National Statistics Office, there were an estimated 208,206 outbound tourists in the third quarter this year, an increase of 4.5% on 2018.

Outbound tourist trips towards EU and non-EU countries increased by 1.8 and 25.4% respectively. Italy and the United Kingdom remained the most popular destinations, with a joint share of 45.1%.

The NSO noted that total nights spent by outbound tourists increased by 1.6%, amounting to 1,520,361 nights.

In absolute terms, the NSO said that the majority of guest nights (63.2%) were spent in rented accommodation establishments.

The estimated total outlay by outbound tourists between July and September increased by 4.3% over last year and stood at €201.5 million, equivalent to an average of €968 per trip.

Between January and September total outbound tourist trips numbered 513,207, an increase of 6.2% over 2018.

Total nights spent went up by 2.0% surpassing 3.3 million nights. In addition, the NSO said that total estimated outlay by resident tourists stood at €446.1 million, this was 7.6% per cent higher than that recorded for the same period in 2018.

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