More than 25,000 tourists visited Malta in May, according to figures released by the National Statistics Office.

The NSO said the total number of arrivals reached 25,954, who spent a total of 283,769 nights in Malta.

It said that 20,105 visitors came on holiday, 4,126 on business. Nearly half of arrivals - 46.1% - were from France and Italy, the office said.

Although flights to Malta were available in May, Malta officially restarted its tourism season one month later, in June.

The situation however remains very volatile, with arrivals having to follow strict procedures. As of Wednesday, unvaccinated travellers entering the country have to undergo mandatory quarantine on arrival.

The average length of stay for visitors in May stood at 10.9 nights, with the largest share of guest nights (59.7%) being spent in rented accommodation establishments. 

Total tourist expenditure reached nearly €21.1 million, of which €9.2 million were spent on non-package expenditure and €9.3 million on other expenditure.

January-May 2021

Inbound tourists for the first five months of 2021 amounted to 69,387, a decrease of 81.3% over the same period in 2020. Total nights spent by inbound tourists decreased by 59%, totalling 917,196 nights.

Total tourism expenditure was estimated at €60.4 million, a decrease of 73.1% when compared to the same period in the previous year. Total expenditure per capita stood at €870, increasing from €607 in the same period in 2020, mainly as a result of longer stays.