Just 38,000 less people visited Malta when compared to 2019
Nearly 227,000 people landed in Malta in May - just 38,000 less than the total number of visitors Malta saw in May 2019, before the COVID pandemic took the world by storm.
According to national data, 5,688 of these were overnight cruise passengers, while 17,268 were here on business.
Figures published by the National Statistics Office on Thursday show that the largest share of inbound tourists were aged between 25 and 44, followed by the 45 to 64 age bracket.
French, German and Italian residents made up 35.2 per cent of total inbound tourists.
The largest share of guest nights (86.8 per cent) was spent in rented accommodation establishments.
The average length of stay of total inbound tourists stood at 6.1 nights, while the average expenditure per night was estimated at €129.10.
First five months of the year
The total number of inbound tourists for the first five months of 2022 amounted to 651,140.
This compares to 69,387 last year, 370,216 in 2020 and 929,979 in 2019.
Total tourist expenditure between January and May of this year was estimated at €479.9 million.
Total expenditure per capita stood at €737, down from €870 in 2021.
COVID recovery
According to the NSO, comparing 2019 and 2022 May data can help quantify the recovery of inbound tourism from the effects of the pandemic.
Total inbound tourists for May of this year have reached 84.4% of those registered pre-COVID-19, while the associated nights spent here made up 82.5 per cent of the respective figure in 2019.
The highest recovery was registered in the 0 to 24 age bracket (102.0 per cent) and the lowest recovery was linked with those aged 65 and over (72.0per cent).
The segment of inbound tourists visiting Malta for business purposes experienced a better recovery (94.9 per cent) than that of tourists visiting Malta for holiday purposes (84.5 per cent).
Source: Timesofmalta.com