News Releases

Inbound Tourism: January 2024

NR 051/2024
Release Date: 20 March 2024
Errata: 28 March 2024 16:00hrs

Errata Corrige: A mistake was detected in the data for Table 1. Profile of inbound tourists by month of departure. The total number of tourists visiting Gozo and Comino should read 75,906 instead of 61,493. Same day visitors should read 70,422 instead of 57,923 and over-night visitors should read 5,484 instead of 3,571. The commentary related to this section was changed accordingly. Online documents were amended on 28 March 2024 at 16:00 hrs. 

Total inbound tourists for January 2024 were estimated at 172,021, an increase of 26.3 per cent when compared to the corresponding month in 2023.
Historic,Roman,Catholic,Cathedral,Of,Saint,Paul,In,Main,Town

During the month under review, a total of 159,807 inbound tourists visited Malta for holiday purposes, and 8,030 tourists came for business purposes. The largest share of inbound tourists were aged between 25 and 44 (40.1 per cent), followed by the 45-64 age bracket (30.4 per cent) (Table 1). Italian, British and Polish residents made up 46.0 per cent of total inbound tourists (Table 5).

Total nights spent went down by 2.1 per cent when compared to January 2023, surpassing 1.0 million nights. The largest share of guest nights (79.4 per cent) was spent in rented accommodation establishments (Table 3). The average length of stay of total inbound tourists stood at 5.9 nights (Table 1).

Total tourist expenditure surpassed €109.9 million, an increase of 10.9 per cent over the corresponding month in 2023 (Table 4). The average expenditure per night was estimated at €108.9 (Chart 2b).

The number of tourists visiting Gozo and Comino, including both same-day and overnight visitors, totalled 75,906, or 44.1 per cent of total tourists.

Chart 1. Total inbound tourists by month

January 2022 – January 2024

Drag to view in full

Chart 2a. Expenditure per capita by inbound tourists

January 2022 - January 2024

No Data Found

Chart 2b. Expenditure per night by inbound tourists

January 2022 - January 2024

No Data Found

Tables

Tables

Errata Corrige: A mistake was detected in the data for Table 1. Profile of inbound tourists by month of departure. The total number of tourists visiting Gozo and Comino should read 75,906 instead of 61,493. Same day visitors should read 70,422 instead of 57,923 and over-night visitors should read 5,484 instead of 3,571. The commentary related to this section was changed accordingly. Online documents were amended on 28 March 2024 at 16:00 hrs. 

Methodological Notes

1. This release focuses on Inbound Tourism, which comprises activities of non-resident visitors travelling to Malta (i.e. outside their usual environment) and staying for not more than 12 consecutive months for leisure, business or other (corresponding) purposes.

2. Inbound tourism data are collected from an ongoing frontier national survey known as Tourstat. Tourist air departures are collected through a continuous survey carried out at the departure lounge of the Malta International Airport. A two-stage sampling design is used to collect data on air passengers. In the first stage, alternate days and nights are selected. In the second stage, within each shift, a sample of air passengers is selected systematically. Every crossing air passenger is counted and respondents are selected using a pre-defined interval of 1:20.

3. Tourstat measures the number of tourist trips carried out during a particular reference month. These differ from the number of tourists in that the same person can make more than one trip during the same period.

4. Tourist sea departures is supplemented by administrative data provided by ferry operators.

5. Absolute and percentage changes between one survey estimate and another based on less than 1,500 tourists should be treated with caution and are represented in this news release by means of the dash symbol (-).

6. Owing to Croatia’s entry into the Eurozone (with effect from 1 January 2023), Croatian data is statistically classified as being in the Euro area from January 2023. Comparability between comparative periods should be treated with caution.

7. The monthly passenger departures data published by the Malta International Airport cannot be equated to the number of inbound tourists, because the former is inclusive of departing Maltese and transit passengers.

8. Data on cruise passengers who spent at least one night berthed on board their cruise ship in Malta (‘Overnight Cruise Passengers’) is compiled on the basis of administrative records supplied by Transport Malta.

9. Arrivals and nights spent in time-share accommodation are being categorised as ‘Non-rented Accommodation’ instead of ‘Collective Accommodation’ as per Eurostat’s recommendation. In this regard, there may be minor differences between these statistics and statistics published in tourism supply due to the fact that hotels report time-share accommodation under ‘Collective Accommodation’.

10. Prior to comparing and interpreting differences between demand-side (based on Tourstat) and supply-side (based on Accomstat) tourism statistics, users are strongly advised to consult concept 15.4 of the NSO’s metadata file.

11. Data included in this release are based on sample data and are therefore subject to sampling error. Sampling error is measured by a quantity known as the margin of error, which in turn, expresses the variability between the true population parameters and their corresponding sample estimates. In the table below, the margin of error is used to construct a set of 95 per cent confidence intervals for the main indicators, which gives an indication of where the true population parameters lie.

Sampling variability of inbound tourism figures

Estimate Margin of error 95% confidence interval
Inbound Tourists 172,021 2,180 172,021 ± 2,180
Total nights 1,009,624 46,341 1,009,624 ± 46,341
Total expenditure (€ 000) 109,913 3,999 109,913 ± 3,999

12. Definitions:

Usual environment: The geographical area, though not necessarily a contiguous one, within which an individual conducts his regular life routines and shall be determined on the basis of the following criteria: the crossing of administrative borders or the distance from the place of usual residence, the duration of visit, the frequency of visit, the purpose of visit.

Resident: A person is considered to be a resident of Malta/Gozo if:

a. S/he has lived for most of the past 12 months in Malta/Gozo;

b. S/he has lived in Malta/Gozo for less than 12 months but intends to return within a year to settle here.

Traveller: A person who moves between different geographic locations, for any purpose and any duration.

Visitor: The three fundamental criteria used to distinguish visitors from travellers are:

a. The trip should be to a place other than that of the usual environment, which would exclude short-distance local transport and commuting, i.e. more or less regular trips between the place of work/study and the place of residence;

b. The stay in the place visited should not last more than twelve consecutive months, beyond which the visitor would become a resident of that place (from the statistical standpoint);

c. The main purpose of the visit should be other than the exercise of an activity remunerated from within the place visited, which would exclude migratory movements for work purposes.

● Same-day visitor: A visitor who does not spend the night in rented or non-rented accommodation in the country/place visited

Tourist: A visitor who stays at least one night in a rented and non-rented accommodation in the place/country visited.

Inbound tourism: Comprises the activities of non-resident visitors travelling to Malta (i.e. outside their usual environment) and staying for not more than 12 consecutive months for personal, business or other purposes.

Total nights spent: Nights which a guest actually spends or is registered to spend in a rented accommodation establishment or in a non-rented accommodation.

Average length of stay: The number of nights spent divided by the number of trips during a specified reference period.

Rented accommodation: Consists of the following two sub-categories:

a. Collective accommodation: comprises hotels, guesthouses, hostels, tourist villages, holiday complexes, Bed & Breakfast and campsites.

b. Other rented accommodation: comprises holiday furnished premises (farmhouses, flats and villas), host families, marinas, paid-convents, rented yachts and student dormitories.

Non-rented accommodation: Comprises own private residence (owned dwellings, owned caravans and yachts), staying with friends or relatives (even if charged – includes also friends’ private apartments) and other private accommodation (oil rig, free-convents or timeshare, etc.).

Total expenditure: Refers to the amount that is going to be paid for the acquisition of consumption goods and services, as well as valuables during tourism trips. It includes expenditures by visitors themselves, as well as expenses that are paid for or reimbursed by others. The total expenditure is broken down by the following expenditure items:

a. Package expenditure: refers to the whole amount of money spent on transport, accommodation and other services such as rental of a car, activities or outings during the trip.

b. Non-package expenditure: is the amount of money spent on transport and accommodation reported separately.

c. Other expenditure: is the amount spent on shopping, souvenirs, tickets for concerts or sports events, entrance to museums or zoos and day excursions during a tourism trip. It also includes durables and valuable goods, that is, the amount spent on cars, computers, paintings, jewellery and works of art.

13. More information relating to this news release may be accessed at:

Sources and methods
Statistical concepts
Metadata
Statistical database 

14. A detailed news release calendar is available online.

15. References to this news release are to be cited appropriately. For guidance on access and re-use of data please visit our dedicated webpage.

16. For further assistance send your request through our online request form.

Inbound Tourism: January 2024  

NR 051/2024
Release Date: 20 March 2024
Errata: 28 March 2024 16:00hrs

Errata Corrige: A mistake was detected in the data for Table 1. Profile of inbound tourists by month of departure. The total number of tourists visiting Gozo and Comino should read 75,906 instead of 61,493. Same day visitors should read 70,422 instead of 57,923 and over-night visitors should read 5,484 instead of 3,571. The commentary related to this section was changed accordingly. Online documents were amended on 28 March 2024 at 16:00 hrs. 

Historic,Roman,Catholic,Cathedral,Of,Saint,Paul,In,Main,Town
  • Total inbound tourists for January 2024 were estimated at 172,021, an increase of 26.3 per cent when compared to the corresponding month of 2023.
  • Total nights spent amounted to 1,009,624, and the average length of stay was of 5.9 nights.
  • The largest share of guest nights (79.4 per cent) was spent in rented accommodation establishments.
  • Total expenditure surpassed €109.9 million, resulting in an expenditure per night of €108.9.

Inbound Tourism: January 2024

Inflation Calculator News releases calendar Request for Information NACE Code queries
Skip to content