The most frequent destination for Maltese travellers between January and May this year was Italy, according to National Statistics Office figures released yesterday.

Italy accounted for 28.3 per cent of the total number of Maltese travelling abroad by air and sea. This was followed by other main destinations – United Kingdom, Belgium and Germany.

In the first five months of 2006, male outbound passengers significantly exceeded female ones, the former accounting for 63 per cent of the total.

The greatest proportion of outbound passengers – 46.3 per cent – were aged between 25 and 44 years of age, followed by passengers in the 45-64 and 15-24 age brackets, at 43 and 6.2 per cent respectively.

During the January-May 2006 period, the number of Maltese passengers departing by air and sea amounted to 83,203, an increase of 7 per cent over the same period a year ago. Of these, around 97.3 per cent spent less than six months away from Malta. Maltese passengers during the month under review reached a total of 21,870. Of these, 17,651 travelled by air, an increase of 47.1 per cent when compared to the same month last year. The overseas stay of the majority of Maltese air passengers – around 97.1 per cent – did not exceed six months.