In 2021, the total number of inbound and domestic tourists who visited the Gozo and Comino region amounted to 435,907, the NSO said Tuesday. Domestic tourists accounted for 83.8 per cent of total tourism demand within this region.

The total number of inbound and domestic tourists who visited the Malta region amounted to 962,556, with inbound tourists accounting for 97.5 per cent of total tourists visiting this region.

Domestic tourism

During 2021, domestic tourism across regions stood at 389,561 total arrivals, an increase of 8.1 per cent when compared to 2020. Malta residents travelling to Gozo and Comino region totalled 365,252, or 93.8 per cent of total domestic tourists. Most of domestic tourists travelled for holiday purposes (78.1 per cent) and spent between 1 and 3 nights (79.2 per cent).

The average length of stay decreased from 3.0 to 2.8 compared with 2020 levels.

Domestic tourist nights totalled 1,090,113, an increase of 2.4 per cent over 2020. Total expenditure by domestic tourists in 2021 was estimated at €80.3 million, an increase of 35.2 per cent when compared to the previous year. The average expenditure per capita stood at €206.2, an increase of €41.3 over 2020.

Nights spent by domestic tourists by region and year

Significant increases have been noted in the domestic tourists and the number of nights spent during the shoulder months (March and April 2021) when compared to 2020 levels. This has been greatly attributed from COVID-19 related travel restrictions.

Domestic tourism to Gozo and Comino region

Domestic tourists to Gozo and Comino region, who stayed in rented accommodation amounted to 212,924, an increase of 3.0 per cent over 2020. More than half of the domestic stays in rented accommodation (64.4 per cent) were in other rented accommodation establishments.

The majority of domestic tourist nights (62.4 per cent) were in rented accommodation, of which 73.1 per cent were spent in other rented accommodation.

Domestic tourism expenditure in Gozo and Comino region was estimated at almost €76.6 million, an increase of 32.4 per cent over 2020.

Domestic tourism to Malta region

Gozo and Comino residents who travelled to Malta region in 2021 as domestic tourists increased significantly from 11,971 in 2020 to 24,309 in 2021. Slightly more than half (55.2 per cent) of domestic tourism nights by Gozo and Comino residents who travelled to Malta region were spent in non-rented accommodation.

In 2021, domestic tourism expenditure in Malta region was estimated at almost €3.7 million, an increase of €2.1 million over 2020.

Inbound tourism

In 2021, inbound tourists in Malta increased by 47.0 per cent, reaching 968,136 tourists. Single centre destination inbound tourism accounted for the majority of the trips (95.8 per cent) and the rest being twin centre destination trips.

Total nights spent by inbound tourists to Malta surpassed 8.3 million, an increase of 60.5 per cent over 2020. Nights spent by single centre inbound tourists accounted for 95.7 per cent of total nights spent in MALTA. The remaining were nights spent on twin centre destination trips. Inbound tourist nights in the Malta region accounted for 94.0 per cent of the total, while the Gozo and Comino region accommodated 6.0 per cent of the total nights.

In 2021, total expenditure by inbound tourists to Malta reached €870.7 million, an increase of 91.3 per cent over 2020. Expenditure by inbound tourists on single centre destination trips accounted for 94.9 per cent of total.

Single centre destination trips: Malta region

In 2021, inbound tourists to Malta region as a single centre destination reached 897,481 tourists, an increase of 45.0 per cent over 2020. Most of the inbound tourists were aged between 25 and 44 (42.2 per cent) and came from EU Member States (71.1 per cent) but the strongest market being United Kingdom (21.9 per cent). More than half of the single centre inbound tourists (58.4 per cent) travelled by low-cost airlines and 39.1 per cent by other airlines.

Travelling by low-cost airlines registered an increase of 42.6 per cent compared to 2020. First-time tourists accounted for 72.5 per cent. The majority of single centre inbound tourists to Malta region, stayed in collective accommodation (66.3 per cent). Nights spent by inbound tourists to Malta region as a single centre destination went up by 60.4 per cent when compared to 2020, reaching almost 7.6 million nights. Total expenditure by inbound tourists to Malta as single centre destination, reached almost €800 million, an increase of 89.7 per cent over 2020.

This increase was mostly attributed to increases in accommodation expenditure (112.4 per cent), other expenditure (83.9 per cent) and travel ticket expenditure (54.6 per cent).

Single centre destination trips: Gozo and Comino region

Inbound tourists who visited Gozo and Comino region as a single centre destination amounted to 29,889, an increase of 44.7 per cent over 2020. This accounted for 42.3 per cent, of the total inbound tourists to Gozo and Comino region. The majority came from EU Member States (61.5 per cent) but the strongest market being the United Kingdom (30.7 per cent). Most were aged between 45 and 64 (38.3 per cent). Non-package trips accounted for 89.7 per cent of inbound tourists to Gozo and Comino region. The single centre non-package trips to Gozo and Comino region increased by 44.4 per cent over 2020. More than half of the single centre inbound tourists to Gozo and Comino region, travelled by low-cost airlines (51.9 per cent).

Low-cost airlines registered an increase of 34.9 per cent over 2020. In contrast to single centre Malta region, the majority of single centre tourists to Gozo and Comino region, 41.3 per cent, stayed in other rented accommodation. Nights spent by inbound tourists to Gozo and Comino region on single centre trips increased by 32.1 per cent when compared to 2020, amounting to 352,843 nights. In 2021, the average length of stay of single centre inbound tourists to Gozo and Comino region decreased by 1.1 nights from 12.9 nights to 11.8 nights.

Expenditure by inbound tourists to Gozo and Comino region as single centre destination was estimated at €28.0 million in 2021, an increase of 61.0 per cent when compared to previous year. This increase was mostly attributed to increases in accommodation expenditure (92.7 per cent), travel ticket expenditure (61.7 per cent) and other expenditure (51.8 per cent).

Twin centre destination trips

In 2021, inbound tourists who visited Malta and Gozo and Comino regions as twin centre destination totalled 40,766, an increase of 113.8 per cent when compared to 2020. The largest share of twin centre inbound tourists were in the 25-44 age bracket (50.4 per cent). The majority of inbound tourists on twin centre trips were first-time tourists (76.7 per cent) and came from EU Member States (72.5 per cent) but the strongest markets being France (22.9 per cent) and the United Kingdom (19.9 per cent). More than half of the twin centre inbound tourists travelled by low-cost airlines (51.7 per cent). Travelling by low cost and other airlines recorded significant increases of 102.2 and 143.2 per cent respectively when compared to 2020.

A high proportion of twin centre tourists stayed in rented accommodation (91.2 per cent). Total nights spent by twin centre tourists increased by 95.6 per cent when compared to 2020, amounting to 438,744 nights. The majority of inbound twin centre tourist nights were spent in collective accommodation (45.5 per cent), followed by 38.8 per cent in other rented accommodation (Tables 10 and 11). In 2021, the average length of stay of inbound tourists visiting both regions stood at 10.8 nights, down by 1.0 nights compared to 2020. Total expenditure spent by twin centre tourists was estimated at €44.7 million in 2021, an increase of 162.6 per cent over 2020. Non-package expenditure by twin centre inbound tourists was almost nine times higher, when compared to package expenditure. All expenditure categories registered significant increases over 2020.