The main markets attributing to this decline were the German, which accounted for 12.3 per cent of tourist departures by air and was down by 22.8 per cent and the UK, which accounted for 40.6 per cent and fell by 5.5 per cent. Other falls in tourist departures included the Austrian, Dutch, Libyan, Russian and Danish markets.
On the other hand, increases in departures of tourists from Norway, Switzerland, Belgium, France, Italy, Sweden, the USA and a group of “other” markets were recorded.
January-April 2004
In the first four months of this year, tourist departures reached 255,614, representing a fall of three per cent compared with the same period last year. It is estimated that 44.4 per cent of all tourist departures during this period originated from the UK, a decline of 3.8 per cent when compared to the same period last year.
The German market, which accounted for 12.7 per cent of all tourist departures, decreased by 11.9 per cent over the same period last year. Other falls in tourist departures included the Austrian, Dutch, Swiss, Russian, Libyan and a group of “other” markets. On the other hand, the Italian market, which accounted for 8.5 per cent of all tourist departures, increased by 22.5 per cent over the same period last year. Other increases in tourist departures included the Belgian, Danish, French, Swedish, Norwegian and US markets.
Accommodation
It is estimated that during the first four months of this year, the number of nights spent in the Maltese islands by tourists departing by air amounted to a total of 2,544,987, a decrease of 2.7 per cent over the same period last year. Of these, 69.2 per cent were spent in hotels, with the four-star hotel category the most frequented. A total of 202,695 tourists stayed in hotels, indicating a fall of 6.2 per cent over the same period last year.
Tourist expenditure
During the four months to April, total tourist expenditure approximated Lm8.4 million – a fall of 10.1 per cent over the same period in 2003. Package tourists spent Lm4.4 million, 12.6 per cent less than in 2003. Non-package tourists spent Lm10.4 million on airfares and Lm5.9 million on accommodation, thereby increasing total expenditure on non-package travel by approximately Lm 0.8 million or 4.6 per cent over the first four months last year. Other expenditure fell by Lm2.9 million or 9.2 per cent.