Tourist arrivals grew by 18.5% in July from the same month in 2023 and reached 385,591, the NSO said on Thursday.

The biggest group was made up of tourists aged up to 24 (39.9 per cent), followed by those in the 25-44 age bracket (33.0 per cent). In 2023 the biggest age group was between 25-44 years old while the two lower age groups were about equal in 2022.

Italian, British, and French tourists made up 48.5 per cent of total arrivals.

Total nights spent went up by 9.8 per cent when compared to July 2023, reaching almost 2.8 million nights. The largest share of guest nights (89.2 per cent) was spent in rented accommodation establishments .

The average length of stay of total inbound tourists was  7.2 nights.

Total tourist expenditure amounted to almost €403.9 million, an increase of 20.7 per cent over the corresponding month in 2023. The average expenditure per night was estimated at €145.2.

The number of tourists visiting Gozo and Comino, including both same-day and overnight visitors, totalled 257,754, or 66.8 per cent of total tourists.

January-July 2024

The NSO said tourist arrivals in the first seven months of 2024 amounted to 1,976,457, an increase of 22.4 per cent over the same period in 2023. Total nights spent by inbound tourists went up by 14.3 per cent, surpassing 12.2 million nights.

Total expenditure was estimated at €1.7 billion, 23.6 per cent higher than that recorded for the same period in 2023. Total expenditure per person increased to €858 from €849 for the corresponding period in 2023.

The number of tourists visiting Gozo and Comino, including both same-day and overnight visitors, totalled 1,109,844, or 56.2 per cent of total tourists.