29 April 2009 1100 hrs 074/2009 Tourstat survey data indicate that inbound tourists in were estimated at 71,153, a decrease of 21.4 per cent when compared to the corresponding month last year, and practically und compared to 2007. Departing tourists: 2009 The majority of tourists, or 70,841, came to Malta by air. There was a decrease of 18,229, equivalent to 20.5 per cent, in the number of air tourists. Results also show that 77.1 per cent of inbound tourists came on holiday, while a further 13.2 per cent visited Malta for business purposes. Meanwhile, total nights spent dropped by 25.5 per cent when compared to the corresponding month in 2008. Total nights spent in private accommodation decreased by 8.4 per cent, while guest nights in collective accommodation decreased by 29.7 per cent. Total tourist expenditure during the same period was estimated at 44.1 million, down by 29.4 per cent when compared to 2008. January- 2009 Inbound tourists for the first quarter were estimated at 174,039, a decline of 17.8 per cent over the corresponding period in 2008. In terms, the was mainly attributable to a decrease in holiday visits from the German, British and Spanish markets. On the other hand, increases were recorded in the Italian, Libyan and Russian markets. Table 6 shows that 87.7 per cent of all inbound visits comprised tourists coming from EU Member States. For the period under review, the majority of inbound tourists chose non-package travel, while the demand for package trips decreased by 24.4 per cent. The largest proportion of inbound passengers were aged between 45 and 64, followed by those in the 25-44 age bracket. Together, these two categories made up 75.0 per cent of total tourists. In the period under review, total tourist expenditure was estimated at 112.6 million, down by 21.1 per cent when compared to 2008. Decreases were recorded throughout all expenditure categories. Compiled by: Unit C3: Information Society and Tourism Statistics Directorate C: Social Statistics and Information Society The survey indicated that the per capita total expenditure was estimated at 660, a decrease of 3.5 per cent over the comparable period last year Further information on data: Ms Tania BORG T. +356 2599 7321 E. tania.borg@gov.mt
Table 1. Profile of departing tourists Total 71,279 90,504 71,153-19,351-21.4 Mode of travel: Air 70,993 89,070 70,841-18,229-20.5 Sea 286 u 1,434 u 312 u -1,122 - Sex: Males 38,096 49,370 36,161-13,209-26.8 Females 33,183 41,134 34,992-6,142-14.9 Age group: 0-24 6,813 11,839 9,106-2,733-23.1 25-44 20,968 29,605 23,590-6,015-20.3 45-64 33,185 37,351 29,489-7,862-21.0 65+ 10,313 11,709 8,968-2,741-23.4 Markets: EU 62,072 81,110 64,211-16,899-20.8 of which: Euro area 29,330 44,842 32,695-12,147-27.1 Non-EU 9,207 9,394 6,942-2,452-26.1 Purpose of visit: Holiday 56,108 73,735 54,888-18,847-25.6 Business and professional 8,939 8,642 9,421 779 - Other 6,232 8,127 6,844-1,283 - Organisation of stay Package 38,876 46,667 34,103-12,564-26.9 Non-package 32,403 43,837 37,050-6,787-15.5 Frequency First-time tourists 47,909 61,604 46,652-14,952-24.3 Repeat tourists 23,370 28,900 24,501-4,399-15.2 less than once a year 17,313 21,066 18,106-2,960-14.1 more than twice a year 6,057 7,834 6,395-1,439 - Duration of visit: 1-3 nights 10,828 10,465 12,857 2,392 22.9 4-6 nights 12,128 22,638 17,101-5,537-24.5 7+ nights 48,323 57,401 41,195-16,206-28.2 Average length of stay (nights) 8.4 8.0 7.6-0.4-5.0 u - under-represented due to small sample size. Please note that these data must be interpreted with caution. 2
Table 2. Departing tourists, by type of accommodation persons Total 71,279 90,504 71,153-19,351-21.4 Private accommodation 11,311 14,738 15,590 852 - Collective accommodation 59,968 75,766 55,563-20,203-26.7 Hotels 55,705 70,281 50,647-19,634-27.9 Other collective accommodation * 4,263 5,485 4,916-569 - Table 3. Total nights spent by departing tourists, by type of accommodation nights Total 599,769 726,289 541,394-184,895-25.5 Private accommodation 117,154 144,956 132,815-12,141-8.4 Collective accommodation 482,615 581,333 408,579-172,754-29.7 Hotels 443,230 533,159 365,470-167,689-31.5 Other collective accommodation * 39,385 48,174 43,109-5,065-10.5 Table 4. Total expenditure by departing tourists, by expenditure categories 000s Total 55,080 62,430 44,082-18,348-29.4 Package 21,998 25,561 15,824-9,737-38.1 Non-package 12,774 14,006 11,038-2,968-21.2 Air/sea fares 7,808 8,337 6,622-1,715-20.6 Accommodation 4,966 5,669 4,416-1,253-22.1 Other expenditure 20,308 22,863 17,220-5,643-24.7 * Comprises aparthotels, guesthouses, hostels and tourist villages Estimates for expenditure are rounded to the nearest thousand 3
Table 5. Departing tourists, nights spent and total expenditure, by country of residence Total tourists 71,279 90,504 71,153-19,351-21.4 EU 62,072 81,110 64,211-16,899-20.8 of which France 4,034 3,915 2,767-1,148 - Germany 10,077 16,296 9,264-7,032-43.2 Italy 6,289 11,318 11,360 42 - United Kingdom 29,325 31,126 27,427-3,699-11.9 Non-EU 9,207 9,394 6,942-2,452-26.1 Total nights 599,769 726,289 541,394-184,895-25.5 EU 516,613 656,741 487,122-169,619-25.8 of which France 28738 32,324 17,562-14,762-45.7 Germany 81,164 128,860 76,190-52,670-40.9 Italy 32,498 68,373 65,308-3,065-4.5 United Kingdom 281,346 308,467 248,863-59,604-19.3 Non-EU 83,156 69,548 54,272-15,276-22.0 Total expenditure ( '000s) 55,080 62,430 44,082-18,348-29.4 EU 45,413 55,184 38,855-16,329-29.6 of which France 2,903 2,716 1,900-816 -30.0 Germany 7,744 11,580 5,862-5,718-49.4 Italy 3,848 6,372 5,777-595 -9.3 United Kingdom 21,700 22,131 17,149-4,982-22.5 Non-EU 9,667 7,246 5,227-2,019-27.9 Estimates for expenditure are rounded to the nearest thousand 4
Table 6. Profile of departing tourists January- Total 173,562 211,689 174,039-37,650-17.8 Mode of travel: Air 172,649 208,835 172,614-36,221-17.3 Sea 913 u 2,854 1,425 u -1,429 - Sex: Males 92,492 115,220 93,116-22,104-19.2 Females 81,070 96,469 80,923-15,546-16.1 Age group: 0-24 14,864 22,781 20,733-2,048-9.0 25-44 54,953 72,827 59,913-12,914-17.7 45-64 80,068 89,258 70,696-18,562-20.8 65+ 23,677 26,823 22,697-4,126-15.4 Markets: EU 149,721 186,046 152,632-33,414-18.0 of which: Euro area 63,832 96,740 76,272-20,468-21.2 Non-EU 23,841 25,643 21,407-4,236-16.5 Purpose of visit: Holiday 141,794 173,506 136,083-37,423-21.6 Business and professional 21,370 25,180 25,808 628 - Other 10,398 13,003 12,148-855 - Organisation of stay Package 96,674 97,345 73,589-23,756-24.4 Non-package 76,888 114,344 100,450-13,894-12.2 Frequency First-time tourists 108,424 138,963 107,924-31,039-22.3 Repeat tourists 65,138 72,726 66,115-6,611-9.1 less than once a year 47,223 49,892 46,680-3,212-6.4 more than twice a year 17,915 22,834 19,435-3,399-14.9 Duration of visit: 1-3 nights 25,477 32,675 31,467-1,208-4-6 nights 32,717 53,299 39,581-13,718-25.7 7+ nights 115,368 125,715 102,991-22,724-18.1 u - under-represented due to small sample size. Please note that these data must be interpreted with caution. 5
Table 7. Departing tourists, by type of accommodation January- persons Total 173,562 211,689 174,039-37,650-17.8 Private accommodation 25,876 38,144 35,584-2,560-6.7 Rented 9,240 13,028 15,010 1,982 15.2 Staying with friends/relatives 12,617 18,785 13,460-5,325-28.3 Owner-occupied 4,019 6,331 7,114 783 - Collective accommodation 147,686 173,545 138,455-35,090-20.2 Hotels 138,196 159,679 126,997-32,682-20.5 Other collective accommodation * 9,490 13,866 11,458-2,408-17.4 * Comprises aparthotels, guesthouses, hostels and tourist villages Table 8. Departing tourists and total expenditure, by country of residence January- Total tourists 173,562 211,689 174,039-37,650-17.8 Austria 2,319 2,647 1,502 u -1,145 - Belgium 2,352 4,360 1,900-2,460-56.4 France 8,324 11,112 8,095-3,017-27.2 Germany 20,700 32,325 20,756-11,569-35.8 Ireland 4,236 5,184 5,031-153 - Italy 16,953 24,494 25,882 1,388 - Libya 2,162 1,846 2,657 811 - Netherlands 3,608 3,604 2,923-681 - Russia 1,986 1,586 1,956 370 - Scandinavia* 6,933 9,116 7,827-1,289 - Spain 2,001 7,767 2,778-4,989-64.2 Switzerland 3,294 3,524 2,735-789 - United Kingdom 76,847 76,083 65,442-10,641-14.0 USA 2,579 2,868 2,696-172 - Other 19,268 25,173 21,859-3,314-13.2 Total expenditure ( '000s) 136,037 142,653 112,551-30,102-21.1 Austria 1,528 1,864 974 u -890-47.7 Belgium 1,864 2,962 1,288-1,674-56.5 France 6,191 7,278 5,248-2,030-27.9 Germany 14,786 20,912 13,432-7,480-35.8 Ireland 3,184 3,693 3,245-448 -12.1 Italy 10,923 13,144 13,290 146 1.1 Libya 1,899 1,261 1,629 368 29.2 Netherlands 2,592 2,701 2,182-519 -19.2 Russia 1,933 1,316 2,129 813 61.8 Scandinavia* 5,553 5,982 5,256-726 -12.1 Spain 1,290 4,378 1,227-3,151-72.0 Switzerland 3,011 2,587 1,894-693 -26.8 United Kingdom 59,956 52,547 42,850-9,697-18.5 USA 2,600 1,910 1,863-47 -2.5 Other 18,727 20,118 16,044-4,074-20.3 * Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden Estimates for expenditure are rounded to the nearest thousand 6
Table 9. Total expenditure by departing tourists 000s Package expenditure Non-package expenditure Air/sea fares Accommodation January- 2009 Other expenditure Total Total 36,606 19,614 13,265 43,066 112,551 Austria 495 u 122 u 97 u 260 u 974 u Belgium 561 196 131 400 1,288 France 2,655 578 351 1,664 5,248 Germany 4,317 2,827 1,917 4,371 13,432 Ireland 679 438 515 1,613 3,245 Italy 3,532 2,707 2,183 4,868 13,290 Libya 58 551 405 615 1,629 Netherlands 669 435 254 824 2,182 Russia 610 363 335 821 2,129 Scandinavia* 1,283 805 583 2,585 5,256 Spain 103 292 288 544 1,227 Switzerland 544 385 288 677 1,894 United Kingdom 16,942 5,228 3,605 17,075 42,850 USA 393 575 226 669 1,863 Other 3,765 4,112 2,087 6,080 16,044 January- 2008 Total 51,316 21,855 15,185 54,297 142,653 Austria 899 214 188 563 1,864 Belgium 1,175 563 339 885 2,962 France 2,950 1,255 1,042 2,031 7,278 Germany 8,542 3,032 2,719 6,619 20,912 Ireland 980 538 528 1,647 3,693 Italy 4,366 2,254 1,815 4,709 13,144 Libya 40 446 243 532 1,261 Netherlands 964 395 311 1,031 2,701 Russia 465 264 144 443 1,316 Scandinavia* 2,282 861 636 2,203 5,982 Spain 974 574 761 2,069 4,378 Switzerland 1,188 401 215 783 2,587 United Kingdom 19,918 6,560 4,083 21,986 52,547 USA 140 582 342 846 1,910 Other 6,433 3,916 1,819 7,950 20,118 January- 2007 Total 54,276 19,341 11,622 50,798 136,037 Austria 778 189 79 482 1,528 Belgium 839 245 177 603 1,864 France 2,226 1,183 712 2,070 6,191 Germany 6,166 2,319 1,838 4,463 14,786 Ireland 950 350 360 1,524 3,184 Italy 3,572 1,898 1,249 4,204 10,923 Libya 228 610 293 768 1,899 Netherlands 1,055 387 334 816 2,592 Russia 678 364 182 709 1,933 Scandinavia* 2,659 630 365 1,899 5,553 Spain 452 298 192 348 1,290 Switzerland 1,136 485 308 1,082 3,011 United Kingdom 27,362 5,819 3,442 23,333 59,956 USA 392 594 362 1,252 2,600 Other 5,783 3,970 1,729 7,245 18,727 * Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden Estimates for expenditure are rounded to the nearest thousand u - under-represented due to small sample size. Please note that these data must be interpreted with caution. 7
Table 10. Per capita expenditure by departing tourists Package expenditure Non-package expenditure Air/sea fares Accommodation January- 2009 Other Expenditure Total w Total 497 195 155 247 660 Austria 480 u 260 u 207 u 173 u 649 u Belgium 512 243 176 210 683 France 517 196 129 206 652 Germany 535 223 169 211 658 Ireland 472 122 154 321 652 Italy 395 160 139 188 520 Libya 993 212 171 231 628 Netherlands 602 240 168 282 764 Russia 935 279 270 420 1,097 Scandinavia* 433 166 142 330 685 Spain 256 123 130 196 450 Switzerland 545 222 218 248 725 United Kingdom 520 159 148 261 674 USA 444 318 143 248 704 Other 457 302 165 278 741 January- 2008 Total 527 191 151 257 684 Austria 496 256 238 213 708 Belgium 586 239 158 203 687 France 547 219 196 183 662 Germany 541 184 175 205 652 Ireland 510 165 183 318 726 Italy 408 163 135 192 539 Libya 400 255 151 288 694 Netherlands 587 201 167 286 754 Russia 631 311 179 279 835 Scandinavia* 462 206 166 242 662 Spain 410 107 143 266 565 Switzerland 701 219 140 222 746 United Kingdom 547 165 135 289 708 USA 576 222 147 295 681 Other 555 288 142 316 804 January- 2007 Total 562 256 176 293 797 Austria 644 268 112 208 754 Belgium 561 287 218 256 797 France 558 282 195 249 765 Germany 541 261 209 216 725 Ireland 498 150 183 360 768 Italy 464 204 144 248 649 Libya 489 394 196 355 921 Netherlands 479 276 246 226 722 Russia 633 398 211 357 979 Scandinavia* 603 318 209 274 854 Spain 505 269 181 174 649 Switzerland 617 334 228 329 921 United Kingdom 579 197 149 304 793 USA 724 298 212 486 1,042 Other 563 425 196 376 967 * Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden w stands for weighted average - further detail can be looked up in the methodological notes - Methodological Note 8 u - under-represented due to small sample size. Please note that these data must be interpreted with caution 8
Methodological Notes 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. The results in this release are based on the ongoing frontier survey known as TOURSTAT. All the detailed distribution is survey-based. Tourist air departures are collected through a continuous survey carried out at the departure lounge of Malta International Airport (MIA). A two-stage sample design is used for this survey. In the first stage alternate days are selected. Then within each shift a sample of passengers is selected systematically. Personal interviews are carried out. Monthly response rates of around 90 per cent are achieved. Tourist sea departures are collected through a regular survey that is carried out at the Valletta International Seaport Terminal (VISET). Ferry sailings on every alternate day are selected. Departing passengers are interviewed personally. On average a response rate of 93 per cent is recorded for this survey. Administrative records are used as a supplementary source for the calibration of the survey aggregates. The exercise is in the main a bottom-up approach including a calibrating weight to re-align the survey results to the true population of total passenger departures (net of transits). Under-represented figures are indicated for each table and should be treated with caution. We advise our users to exercise caution when analysing details that involve estimates of less than 1,500 tourists since such estimates may be subject to variations attributable to low frequency in the sample frame (sampling errors). There are also limitations related to non-sampling errors, namely those linked to respondents' likelihood and willingness to provide proper information and those related to language barriers. Absolute s between one survey and another must be treated with caution since minor s (ie, less than 1,500 persons) might be the result of sampling error. Consequently, the for minor year-on-year shifts (less than 1,500 persons) are not presented so as not to give a misleading picture of the numbers involved. The main variables collected in these surveys include the following: Nationality Country of residence Flight/Sailing Final destination Sex and age Purpose of visit Frequency of visit Number of nights stayed Type of accommodation used Locality in Malta stayed longest Organisation of trip Form of transport used Expenditure (package/non-package/other) 7. 8. 9. 10. The expenditure data contained in this release should not be equated to national tourism earnings. Such expenditure includes elements that are earned by enterprises outside the Maltese economic territory. The total per capita expenditure is a weighted average of the 'package' and 'non-package' expenditure categories based on the respective number of tourists in each category, plus the simple average of the 'other' expenditure categories. The monthly passenger departures data published by the Malta International Airport cannot be equated to departing tourists because the former is inclusive of departing Maltese and transit passengers. As a result, the monthly tourism statistics published by the NSO are always lower than the combined passenger departures data available from the airport and seaport. Definitions: Usual environment of a person consists of the direct vicinity of his/her home and place of work or study, and other places frequently visited. Visitors comprise tourists and same-day visitors. Visitors are distinguished from other travellers according to the following criteria: the trip should be to a place other than that of the usual environment; the stay in pthe p place visited should not last more than 12 consecutive months; y p visited. International tourist satisfies the criteria mentioned earlier regarding visitors. Additionally, international tourists must stay at least one night in a collective or private accommodation in the country visited. International same-day visitor is an international visitor who does not spend at least one night in collective or private accommodation. 11. The data in this release are not normally subject to revision. However, total nights spent (based on the Tourstat survey) for January and February 2009 are being reviewed. Total nights spent for this year are not strictly comparable to last year's figures. 9