Tourist arrivals in July rebounded significantly compared to July last year but were still less than half of arrivals in July 2019 - before COVID-19 made an appearance.

Official figures issued on Wednesday show that 121,311 visitors came to Malta in July this year, from just 48,743 in the same month last year. Arrivals in July 2019 had numbered 305,588.

The National Statistics Office said 105,942 people came to Malta for holiday purposes in July this year, and 5,099 came for business purposes.

The largest share of inbound tourists were aged between 25-44 (37.6%), closely followed by those between 0-24 (34.5%).

French and Italian residents comprised 29.4% of total tourists. The largest share of guest nights (81.8%t) was spent in rented accommodation establishments. The average length of stay stood at 9.2 nights.

Tourist expenditure reached nearly €126.5 million. The average expenditure per night was estimated at €113.0.

January-July 2021

Inbound tourists for the first seven months of 2021 amounted to 260,998, a decrease of 37.7% over the same period in 2020.

Total nights spent by inbound tourists decreased by 5.6%. Total tourism expenditure was estimated at €246.9 million, a decrease of 4.5% when compared to the same period in the previous year.