Maltese nationals are the third most likely European nationality to take their holidays abroad rather than at home, according to figures released by Eurostat.

In fact, 68% of Maltese take their vacations abroad while 98% of Luxembourgers and 80% of Belgians.

The highest shares of trips of EU residents within their country were observed in Romania (94%), Spain (91%), Portugal (89%), Greece (88%), France (87%) and Bulgaria (86%).

Total business and holiday trips by Maltese nationals in 2017, the year under review, amount to 807,000, of which 68% were abroad and 32% were domestic.

Maltese nationals' average length of stay was of 4.9 nights, while the average length of stay during a trip for all EU nationals varied from 10 nights for residents of Greece (9.9 nights), followed by residents of Luxembourg (7.1), Belgium and the Netherlands (both 6.5), to less than four nights for residents of Latvia and Estonia (both 3.3), Finland (3.4), Hungary (3.6), Denmark (3.8) and Romania (3.9).

In 2017, EU residents made 1.3 billion trips with overnight stays that amounted to almost 6.4 billion nights. The average trip length was 5.1 nights. Compared with 2016, the number of tourism trips by EU residents increased by 4%. Three quarters (73%) of all trips were spent within the country of residence (domestic trips), while one quarter (27%) were abroad (outbound trips), of which 21% to other EU countries and 6% to destinations outside the EU.

The most common means of transport for trips was private or rented motor vehicles (predominantly cars) (64%), followed by airplanes (17%), trains (11%), buses (6%) and water vessels (2%). Airplanes served as the main means of transport for over half of outbound trips (56%), while for domestic trips EU residents travelled mainly by motor vehicles (76%), followed by rail (13%).

Most of the travel by air was for personal reasons (82%), while the remaining 18% of air trips were for professional purposes.

Almost half of all trips (49%) were for holidays and leisure, 35% for visits to relatives and friends, 12% for business and 4% for other reasons.

Over half of all 6.4 billion overnight stays during tourism trips of EU residents in 2017 were spent in rented accommodation (55%). Hotels or similar accommodation providing services such as daily cleaning and bed-making came on top with 32%, while 6% were spent at campsites and the remaining 17% in other types of rented accommodation (e.g. rented holiday dwelling, apartment, youth hostel, mountain hut).

Motor vehicles (private or rented cars) were the main means of transport for more two-thirds of all trips made in 12 countries, with the highest share for the residents of Slovenia (85% of trips), Portugal (80%), Czechia (79%), Spain and Bulgaria (both 77%). Cars were used for less than half of all trips in Luxembourg and Cyprus (both 48%) and Ireland (49%).

Airplanes were the main means of travel for tourists from Malta (63%),  far ahead of Cyprus (49%), Ireland (43%) and Luxembourg (42%), while in six countries - Romania (3%), Bulgaria (5%), Czechia (6%), Croatia and Slovenia (both 8%) the shares for air transport were less than 10%.

The highest use of trains for tourism trips was observed in France (15%) and Germany (14%). At the other end of the scale were Greece and Slovenia (both 1%), Bulgaria and Croatia (both 2%).

Waterways were the main means of transport for 37% of trips made by residents of Malta and 17% of trips by residents of Greece, while in Romania and Croatia (both 19%), Bulgaria (16%) and Estonia (15%) residents took buses for 15% and more of their trips.