Tourist flow to Malta from Russia increased by 21% in January-May

The growth for the first half of the year amounted to 12.4%. In addition to the impressive increase in tourist arrivals to Malta from the Russian Federation, local statistics record a trend for longer holidays for the Russian tourists on the Maltese Islands: the average length of their stay here has increased by 33%. According to the Central Statistical Bureau of Malta (CSB), from January to May 2019, the country was visited by 8 892 tourists from the Russian Federation, which is 21% more compared to last year. 

As the Border Service of Russia confirms, the outbound tourist flow from Russia to Malta for the first half of 2019 (January - June inclusive) reached the figure of 9 506 tourists. This is 12,4% more than in the same period of 2018.  According to Maltese statistics, from January to May, Malta hosted 929 979 tourists from Eastern European countries (not including day tourists and cruise ship passengers), which is 2,8% more compared to the same period last year. 

The largest number from Eastern Europe arrives in Malta from Poland: during the period from January to May of this year, 39 102 citizens visited the islands. Over the first five months of 2019, there is also an increase in tourist flow on the other markets: from Hungary there is an increase by 38%, from Slovakia - by 32%, from Lithuania - by 27%. 

Sales of Russian tour operators coincide with the data of Maltese and Russian statistics. “Now we are noting the growth of sales on the destination of about 12-15% compared to last year. At the moment we have more tourists than last season. As for the duration of rest, we do not observe a significant growth. The most popular vacation time for group tourists in Malta is traditionally 7-9 days,” says Anna Filatovskaya, the director of the Advertising and PR department of Russian Express tour operator.