The continued restrictions on travel due to the Covid-19 pandemic meant that during February, the total inbound tourists to the Maltese Islands were estimated at 9,151. This was down by 93.7% when compared to the same month last year, the National Statistics Office said today.

Of these, 5,564 inbound tourists visited for holiday purposes, while a further 2,281 tourists visited for business or professional reasons. A general increase in the average length of stay was recorded, the NSO said.

Total nights spent went down by 86.7% when compared to February 2020, totalling to 113,297 nights. The largest share of guest nights (54.0%) was spent in rented accommodation establishments.

The total tourist expenditure was estimated at €8.4 million, a decrease of 90.4% over the previous year.

The NSO noted that Italian residents made up the largest share of inbound tourists at 4,212, equivalent to 46.0% of all inbound tourists.

Inbound tourists for the first two months of 2021 amounted to 22,957, down 92.2% over the same period in 2020.

Total nights spent by inbound tourists decreased by 83.1%, totalling 304,150 nights.

Total tourism expenditure was estimated at €20.0 million, this was down by 88.9 when compared to last year. The NSO said that longer stays contributed to an increase in total expenditure per capita, which was estimated at €874 in February 2021.

Photo by Alain Salvary

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