Total inbound visitors for December were down by 91.1% on 2019, with the number estimated at 12,940, the National Statistics Office said today.

The continued travel restrictions because of the Covid-19 pandemic was behind this decline in the number of inbound visitors to the Maltese Islands.

8,525 inbound tourist trips were for holiday purposes, while a further 2,740 were for business. Italian residents comprised 26.4% of total inbound tourists.

Total nights spent went down by 77.2% when compared to December 2019, totalling to 228,180 nights.

The NSO noted that the largest share of guest nights (51.6%) was spent in non-rented accommodation establishments.

A general increase in the average length of stay was recorded, especially among tourists staying in other rented and non-rented accommodation, the NSO said.

Tourist expenditure for the month was estimated at €13.2 million, a decrease of 86.6% over the corresponding month in 2019.

In 2020, inbound tourist trips totalled to 658,567, a decrease of 76.1% over the same period in 2019. Total nights spent by inbound tourists decreased by 73.0% surpassing 5.2 million nights.

Total tourism expenditure was estimated at €455.1 million, down by 79.5%when compared to the previous year. Total expenditure per capita stood at €691, a decrease of 14.4% when compared to 2019.

Photo by Alain Salvary

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