Visitors to Malta in August increased by 45% compared to the same month last year but still less than half the number of arrivals in the same month in 2019.

The National Statistics Office said 157,593 tourists visited Malta for holiday purposes, and 3,621 for business purposes, as COVID-19 continued wreaking havoc on the industry. The largest share of arrivals - 41.8% - were aged 25 to 44 - followed by those within the 0-24 age bracket (29.5%). French and Italians comprised 29.9% of total tourists.

The number of nights tourists spent in Malta went up by 33.1% compared to August 2020, reaching 1.4 million nights. The largest share of guest nights (81.3%) was in rented accommodation establishments. The average length of stay of stood at 8.6 nights.

Malta officially re-started its tourism season in June following closure due to COVID-19, which shattered the local tourism industry.

The NSO said total tourist expenditure reached €169.4 million, an increase of 79% over August 2020. The average expenditure per night was estimated at €118.30.

January-August 2021

The number of tourists for the first eight months of 2021 amounted to 426,930, a 20% drop over the same period last year.

Total nights spent by tourists in Malta increased by 5%, surpassing 4.1 million nights.

Total tourism expenditure was estimated at €416.3 million, an increase of 17.9% when compared to the same period in the previous year. Total expenditure per capita stood at €975, increasing from €662 in 2020.