Last year, over 2.2 million tourists enjoyed the islands, and their many heritage sites.
www.viewingmalta.com
Last year was a busy one for the Maltese Islands. Figures released yesterday by the National Statistics Office confirmed that 2,273,837 tourists visited Malta in 2017, an increase of 15.7 per cent when compared to 2016, making it another record year.
The numbers were released as part of their report on inbound tourist arrivals for December 2017, which saw these grow by 14.7 per cent when compared to December 2016.
According to the report, the majority of visitors that visited Malta and Gozo in 2017 fell into the 25-44 (860,200), and the 45-64 (728,071) age groups, though the Maltese islands remained consistently popular with the under 25s, with 430,150 visiting the rock over the course of the year. The archipelago was also a favourite with the over 65s, with 255,417 arriving on the islands over the course of the year.
A staggering 1,938,456 of these guests were here on holiday, with just 335,381 here for business or other purposes.
Hotels must also have had something to smile about, since the total nights spent by inbound tourists went up by 10.3 per cent over the course of the year, surpassing 16.5 million nights, with total tourism expenditure surpassing €1.9 billion, a 13.9 per cent increase from 2016.
Museums, as well as historical and archaeological sites, also saw an increase in the number of visits by the public – both tourists and locals – in 2017. Heritage Malta, the entity which administers these, recorded an increase of nearly 12 per cent over 2016, and an increase of nearly 26 per cent over 2012, specifying that 1.3 million visits were registered in 2017 to its sites and museums.