Total inbound visitors for December were estimated at 96,395 an increase of 32.8 per cent when compared to the corresponding month in 2015, the NSO said.

Inbound Tourism: December 2016

A total of 80,443 inbound tourist trips were carried out for holiday purposes, while a further 8,802 were undertaken for business purposes. Inbound tourists from EU Member States went up by 34.5 per cent to 82,518 when compared to the corresponding month in 2015.

The majority of inbound tourists were aged between 25 and 44, followed by those within the 45-64 age bracket.

Total nights spent went up by 10.3 per cent when compared to December 2015, amounting to 674,521 nights. The largest share of guest nights (55.7 per cent) was spent in collective accommodation establishments. Tourist nights in private accommodation increased by 9.8 per cent when compared to December 2015.

Total tourist expenditure was estimated at €62.3 million, an increase of 16.0 per cent over the corresponding month in 2015.

January-December 2016

Inbound tourist trips from January to December 2016 reached nearly 2.0 million, an increase of 10.2 per cent over the same period in 2015. Total nights spent by inbound tourists went up by 5.7 per cent, reaching almost 15.0 million nights.

Total tourism expenditure was estimated at €1.71 billion, 4.3 per cent higher than that recorded for 2015. Total expenditure per capita stood at €869, a decrease of 5.4 per cent when compared to 2015.