Malta saw the second highest increase in overnight stays during the first half of the year when compared to the rest of the EU, according to a recent Eurostat report.

The number was up by over 30% when compared to the same period last year.

Only Cyprus saw more overnight stays, registering an increase of just over 39%.

“The EU tourism industry is experiencing a strong recovery from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic,” the report said.

“In the first half of 2023, the number of nights spent in tourist accommodations reached its highest level in the past decade, signalling a notable resurgence in the industry’s performance in many countries.”

From January to June, Malta registered over 4.3 million overnight stays, a marked increase from the 3.3 million in the same period the year before.

At 900,000 stays, June was the strongest month for the country, accounting for just over one fifth of the total. However, it was also the month that saw the smallest increase, at over 86,000 more stays.

In the first half of 2023, the number of nights spent in tourist accommodations reached its highest level in the past decade

March, meanwhile, saw the greatest rise in the number of stays, with nearly 230,000 more overnight visits taking place than in the same month in 2022, according to the data.

All months recorded an increase when compared to the year before.

Across the EU, there were almost 1.2 billion overnight stays in tourist accommodation from January to June, an increase of nearly 11 million from the same period the year before and far above the over 400 million in 2021.

According to the National Statistics Office (NSO), the number of tourists in June increased by a fifth when compared to the same month the year before while their expenditure rose by a third.

The NSO said some 294,000 tourists made it to Malta in June, spending a total of almost €286.5 million in the country.