Updated 2pm with video

The number of tourists visiting Malta in December was 110,611, up 14.7 per cent when compared to the corresponding month in 2016. This brings the total for the year up to 2,273,837, an increase of 15.7 per cent compared with 2016.

In December, 96,186 trips were for holiday purposes, while a further 7,768
were undertaken for business purposes. Total nights spent went up by 17.3 per cent, 57 per cent of them spent in collective accommodation establishments.

The National Statistics Office said on Thursday that over 16.5 million nights were spent in Malta in 2017, up by 10.3 per cent. Total tourism expenditure surpassed €1.9 billion, 13.9 per cent higher than that recorded for 2016, with per capita spending at €856, 1.5 per cent less.

Addressing a news conference marking this successful year, Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi said 2017 exceeded all expectations. He noted that the government together with stakeholders this year will be focusing on the upgrading of major tourist areas like St Julian’s, Buġibba and Mellieħa Bay, which he said needed a revamp.

Dr Mizzi also referred to Air Malta saying that the signing of the various collective agreements enabled the national carrier to be more flexible. He added that Air Malta’s revenue in the last three months of 2017 had improved, but gave no further details.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.