On the other hand, departing German tourists accounted for 10 per cent of all departures and fell by 8.1 per cent. Other reductions in tourist departures were recorded from, among others, the Russian, Libyan, British and a group of other markets.

In the period under review, tourist departures increased by 1.2 per cent over the same period last year and reached 99,720. In the comparable period last year, tourist departures by air reached 98,498. Around 45 per cent of tourists leaving during this period were British, a decline of 6.6 per cent over the same period last year. Other declining markets included the Libyan and a group of other markets.

The German market, which accounted for about 11 per cent of all tourist departures during the period under review, increased by 1,242 tourists or 12.5 per cent. Other markets recording increases in tourist departures included the Austrian, Belgian, French, Dutch, Swiss, Russian, US, Danish, Italian, Norwegian and Swedish markets.

In the period under review, holiday tourists accounted for 77 per cent of all tourists, while business tourists accounted for 14 per cent. This shows an improvement in business travel to Malta when compared to the same period last year, when business tourists accounted for 12 per cent of all tourist departures.

It is estimated that during the January-February period, the number of nights spent in the Maltese islands by tourists departing by air amounted to a total of 1,064,717, an increase of four per cent over the same period last year. The number of nights spent in hotel accommodation accounted for 66 per cent of the total number of nights spent. In the period under review, 79 per cent of all tourists stayed in hotels, a fall of six per cent over the previous year.

In the period under review, expenditure on package tours to the Maltese Islands was estimated at Lm15.7 million, a decrease of Lm0.8 million or five per cent over last year. Non-package tourists spent Lm4.8 million on airfares and Lm2.7 million on accommodation, thereby decreasing total expenditure on non-package travel by about Lm0.4 million or 4.6 per cent over the first two months of last year.

Other expenditure accruing to both package and non-package tourists decreased by Lm1.4 million to Lm11.4 million from Lm12.9 million in the same period last year. In the period under review, total expenditure went down by Lm2.7 million or 7.2 per cent to Lm34.7 million.