Outbound tourist trips during May amounted to 23,711, an increase of
13.0 per cent over the corresponding month last year, the NSO said today.
The number of outbound tourist trips towards EU countries reached 20,495 (+10%), while a further 3,216 trips headed towards non-EU destinations (+33%).

Italy and the UK remained the most popular tourism destinations and shared between them 51 per cent of the total tourism market. The French and German markets both experienced marginal increases when compared to the previous year.

The largest share of outbound tourists were men at 13,942 - 59 per cent. Male tourists increased by 7 per cent, whereas females advanced by 23 per cent. Most outbound tourists fell within the 25-44 age bracket (10,139 or 43 per cent), and were followed by the 45-64 age group (8,525 or 36 per cent).

During the month under review, there were 27,817 outbound visitor trips, of which 4,106 were same-day visitors.

January-May 2012

The number of outbound passengers recorded during the period under review was estimated at 109,555, up by 3 per cent when compared to last year. Nearly 90 per cent of outbound tourists travelled towards EU countries, with Italy and the UK prevailing as the most popular destinations. Trips to Italy went up by 7 per cent, while those to the UK declined by 3 per cent.

EU outbound trips remained almost at par with last year, reaching 94,922, whereas the number of trips to non-EU destinations advanced by 17 per cent to 14,633.

Male passengers outnumbered females and reached 65,262, or 60 per cent of the total.

Trips were mostly carried out by tourists aged 25-44 (41 per cent).

Out of 121,575 outbound visitors, the number of same-day visitors for the period under review was estimated at 12,020, equivalent to 10 per cent of total outbound trips.