Malta and Cyprus recorded the highest EU increases in the number of nights spent in tourism accommodation last year, compared to 2022, according to recent data from Eurostat.
Last year, Malta saw a 20% increase in the total number of nights spent in tourism accommodation compared to 2022, gains only matched by Cyprus which saw slightly higher levels of foreign guests while its domestic market contracted.
“The most significant increases were recorded in Malta and Cyprus, with both countries experiencing an increase of 20% in nights spent compared with 2022, followed by Slovakia with an increase of 16%,” the report said.
The overall picture across the EU was a healthy one, with 24 out of the 25 countries surveyed experiencing an increase in the number of tourist nights as the world emerged from a pandemic that crippled the aviation sector. Only Luxembourg saw a reduction, with its total falling by 1%.
Slovakia and Czechia led the way in terms of international guests, with both countries seeing increases of 29% while Greece experienced the highest growth of domestic tourists, up by 13%.
The report noted that two-thirds of the months last year met or exceeded pre-pandemic levels, with only March, June, July and November seeing a decline when compared with the corresponding months in 2019.
Overall, last year the EU recorded 2.9 billion nights spent in tourism accommodation across the bloc, a 6.1% increase over the year before and a 1.4% increase over 2019.
Last month, the Malta Tourism Authority (MTA) said more than three million tourists had visited the country last year, the highest annual figure on record and an 8% increase over the previous record high of 2.8 million in 2019.
The MTA said the record number of tourists had spent a total of €2.7bn in Malta over the year, with each tourist spending an average of €132 each day.
Meanwhile, data released by the National Statistics Office (NSO) the same month showed that, as well as welcoming visitors from abroad, the Maltese were also avid travellers last year. The number of Maltese travellers who went abroad went up by a third compared to 2022.
NSO data showed that, in the final quarter of last year, more Maltese opted for destinations out of the EU than inside the bloc, with outbound tourists increasing by 27% and 19% respectively.
From October to November, Italy – the country’s closest neighbour – was the most popular destination for the Maltese, however, with a third of outbound tourists making it their chosen getaway.