The number of Irish holidaymakers visiting Malta jumped by 32%, year-on-year, in the first 9 months of this year.
According to the Malta Tourism Authority, just over 37,000 Irish holidaymakers have visited Malta so far this year, compared to 27,895 in 2022.
This has also resulted in a 30% increase in spending by Irish tourists in Malta compared to the same period last year.
Overall, there have been 2.3 million visitors to Malta from January – September, an increase of 30% compared to the same period in 2022 and a 7.2% increase compared to 2019. The average length of stay for visitors is 6.9 nights. Interestingly, 78% of tourists were first time visitors.
Overall, there have been 2.3 million visitors to Malta from January – September, an increase of 30% compared to the same period in 2022 and a 7.2% increase compared to 2019. The average length of stay for visitors is 6.9 nights. Interestingly, 78% of tourists were first time visitors.
Figures have also shown that from January – September, 38.7% of overall visitors were aged 25 – 44, with 28.6% aged 45 – 64, 24.3% were 0 – 24, while 8.5% were over 65.
The main purpose for visiting Malta is for a holiday, which makes up 91.4% of visitors, with 4.6% travelling for business.
So far in 2023, 75% of booking have been non-package tourists, with 25% package.
Speaking about the figures, Tolene van der Merwe, Director of the Malta Tourism Authority for the UK & Ireland said: “It is great to see such a big increase in visitor numbers from Ireland in 2023 compared to 2022. This continues the positive trend that shows that we are nearly back at the pre-pandemic levels of visitors.
“Malta continues to be a very popular destination for visitors from Ireland and with direct flights with Ryanair from both Dublin and Shannon Airport we are very optimistic that these positive trends will continue in 2024.”
