See Regulation 692/2011, Delegated Regulation 2019/1681 and Methodological Manual for Tourism Statistics

The collection consists of tourism data on domestic and outbound trips only in the frame of Regulation (EU) 692/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning statistics on tourism demand. Statistics include data on tourism demand (Annex II of the Regulation, trips, data on participation and same-day visits).

Tourism Trips and Visitors making the trips 

Tourist: A visitor who stays at least one night in rented or non-rented accommodation in the place/country visited.

Domestic tourism: The activities of a resident visitor within the country, i.e. Maltese residents visiting Gozo and Comino and vice versa staying for not more than 12 consecutive months for personal, business or other purposes.

Outbound tourism: The activities of Maltese residents travelling to, and staying in places outside Malta and therefore outside their usual environment.

Month of departure: Tourism trips that started in a particular month and which ended during the reference quarter.

Number of nights: All tourism nights spent by residents, aged 15 or over, outside their usual environment for personal or professional/business purposes. An overnight stay is each night that a guest actually spends (sleeps or stays) or is registered in a collective accommodation establishment or in private tourism accommodation.

Main country of destination: For domestic tourism, the main destination is either Malta or Gozo which are both classified under the country MALTA. For outbound tourism, the destination can be understood in different ways: (1) The place the visitor considers as the most important place visited; (2) The place where the most amount of time is spent; (3) The farthest place visited. If the respondent has difficulties for deciding what is the final destination (e.g. for a touring trip), the main destination may secondarily be decided as the place, where most nights were spent.

Main purpose of the trip: Classification of tourism trips according to the main purpose: (1) Personal (Holidays, leisure and recreation, visiting friends and relatives, education and training, health and medical care, religion/pilgrimages, shopping, transit, other) and (2) Business and professional.

Main means of transport: For domestic trips, the main means of transport is the waterway only. For outbound trips, the main means of transport is either by air or waterway (for Sicily only).

Rented accommodation: Consists of the following two sub-categories:

(i) Collective accommodation: Comprises hotels, guesthouses, hostels, tourist villages, holiday complexes, Bed & Breakfast and campsites.

(ii) Other rented accommodation: Comprises holiday furnished premises (farmhouses, flats and villas), host families, marinas, paid convents, rented yachts and student dormitories.

Non-rented accommodation: Comprises own private residence (owned dwellings, owned caravans and yachts), staying with friends or relatives (even if charged - includes also friends' private apartments) and other private accommodation (oil rig, free-convents or timeshare, etc.).

Booking of the trip: (i) Use of tour operator or travel agency to book the main means of transport and/or accommodation and (ii) Use of internet booking to book the main means of transport and/or accommodation. 

Independent booking: No tour operator or travel agency was used to book the main means of transport or the main means of accommodation, meaning that the services were either booked directly with the service provider or no booking was needed.

Expenditure on tourism trips: Refers to the amount that is going to be paid for the acquisition of consumption goods and services, as well as valuables during tourism trips. It includes expenditures by visitors themselves, as well as expenses that are paid for or reimbursed by others. The total expenditure is broken down into the following expenditure items: 

(i) Package expenditure: Refers to the whole amount of money spent on transport, accommodation and other services such as rental of a car, activities or outings during the trip.

(ii) Non-Package expenditure: The amount of money spent on transport and accommodation reported separately.

(iii) Other expenditure: The amount spent on shopping, souvenirs, tickets for concerts or sports events, entrance to a museum or zoo and day excursions during a tourism trip. It also includes durables and valuable goods, that is, the amount spent on cars, computers, paintings, jewellery and works of art.

(iv) Valuable and durable goods: Concerns general goods that satisfy the wants and needs of the individual not only during the trip but also after the trip (i.e. a car or laptop). Valuable and durable goods are reported separately as well.

Nevertheless, the following types of expenditure are excluded:

1. Money spent on stocks, shares, deposits in banks and real estate (deposits for property or purchase of property, mortgage payments). Exclude deposits and maintenance payments for timeshare.

2. Payments made for goods and services for future visits to Malta, for instance, deposits on accommodation, purchase of cinema tickets, etc.

3. Real estate or expenses related to repair or improvements of real estate, e.g. owned private residences.

4. Purchases for commercial purposes.

5. Cash given to relatives and friends during the trip which does not represent payment of tourism goods or services, as well as donations made to institutions.

Gender: Self-explanatory

Age: Age is recorded in completed years, it is the age during the interview.

Country of residence: Maltese population aged 15 years and over.

Educational Level: The International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED-2011) is used to classify an individual's educational level of attainment. 

Employment Situation: Refers to the individual's employment situation or labour status. The concepts and definitions used are based on the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

Participation in tourism for personal purposes

Section A

Number of residents, aged 15 or over, participating in tourism (made at least one overnight domestic and/or outbound trip) for personal purposes during the reference year. Breakdowns by duration and by socio-demographic characteristics (Gender and Age group) of the tourists are provided on an annual basis.

 The breakdowns consist of:

(a) Any trip: Having made at least 1 trip either domestic or outbound of at least 1 overnight stay.
(b) Domestic trips: Having made at least 1 domestic trip of at least 1 overnight stay, but no outbound trips.
(c) Outbound trips: Having made at least 1 outbound trip of at least 1 overnight stay, but no domestic trips.
(d) Domestic and outbound trips: Having made at least 1 domestic trip of at least 1 overnight stay and at least 1 outbound trip of at least 1 overnight stay.
(e) Short trips: Having made at least 1 trip of 1 to 3 overnight stays.
(f)  Long trips: Having made at least 1 trip of 4 or more overnight stays.
(g) Long trips, domestic trips only: Having made at least 1 domestic trip of 4 or more overnight stays, but no outbound trips of 4 or more overnight stays.
(h) Long trips, outbound trips only: Having made at least 1 outbound trip of 4 or more overnight stays, but no domestic trips of 4 or more overnight stays.
(i)  Long trips, domestic and outbound trips: Having made at least 1 domestic trip of 4 or more overnight stays and at least 1 outbound trip of 4 or more overnight stays.

Section B

Number of residents, aged 15 or over, not participating in tourism for personal purposes during the reference year (i.e. not having made any trip with at least 1 overnight stay for personal purposes during the reference year). Breakdowns by main reasons for not participating in tourism for personal purposes during the reference year (with multiple answer possibilities for the respondents) and by socio-demographic characteristics (Gender and Age group) of the tourist are provided on an annual basis.

The breakdowns consist of:

(a) Financial reasons (No money available for holiday trips, cannot afford to go on holiday)
(b) Lack of free time due to family commitments
(c) Lack of free time due to work or study commitments
(d) Health reasons or reduced mobility
(e) Prefer to stay at home, no motivation to travel
(f)  Safety
(g) Other reasons

Outbound Same-Day visits

Same-day visitor: A visitor who does not spend the night in rented or non-rented accommodation in the place/country visited. 

Information on the number of outbound same-day visits is collected by quarter, by purpose and by socio-demographic characteristics (Gender and Age group) as follows:

(a) Number of outbound same-day visits for personal purposes
(b) Number of outbound same-day visits for professional reasons
(c) Expenditure on outbound same-day visits for personal purposes
(d) Expenditure on outbound same-day visits for professional reasons

Participation in tourism: The statistical unit is the individual.
Tourism trips with overnight stays: The statistical unit is the trip with at least one overnight stay made by the individual.
Same-day visits: The statistical unit is the same-day trip made by the individual.

The reporting unit is the respondent selected for the interview.

Overall target population: Maltese residents aged 15 and over residing in private households stratified by gender, age group and district of residence.

Participation in tourism: Maltese residents, aged 15 or over, participating in tourism for personal purposes.

Tourism trips and visitors making the trip: All tourism trips of at least one overnight stay made outside the usual environment by the residents aged 15 or over.

Same-day visits: All outbound and domestic same-day visits made outside the usual environment by the residents aged 15 or over.

2013

2014

2014

First transmission from 2018

Regulation 692/2011

Regulation 1051/2011

Delegated Regulation 2019/1681

Malta Statistics Authority Act (Cap. 422 of the Laws of Malta), which can be accessed from:

https://legislation.mt/eli/cap/422/eng

Overall data quality is very good. All requirements laid down by Regulation 692/2011 are taken into consideration.

A briefing is carried out with all the interviewers before every quarterly session and a supervisor is always present during the data collection.

In-built validations in the data collection programme.

The main variables are relatively accurate (e.g. Number of trips with the purpose of "leisure, recreation and holidays") whereas more detailed variables have a larger sampling error (e.g. Total Expenses).

No imputation is needed for the core variables (purpose of visit, destination, type of accommodation used etc.) as interviewers are instructed to get complete answers on the latest 3 trips. Therefore, respondents will be able to remember the characteristics and details of their trip. Imputations are only carried out on expenditure categories, which provide us with very accurate expenditure estimates.

Proxy interviews are kept at a minimum in order to minimize the effects of non-response due to ageing and ageing-related health conditions. Whenever possible, interviewers are instructed to interview selected individuals; however, some individuals are unable to complete an interview because of physical or cognitive limitations. Therefore, proxy interviews are only allowed when the interviewer has concerns about the respondent's ability to provide accurate information.

• Measurement errors by respondents: possibility of not understanding the questions, not knowing the answers (do not remember details), not interested in the survey, not willing to provide proper information on sensitive questions such as expenditure. Main possible source of error comes from recall bias (respondent might forget some details on trips, such as expenditure). This may lead to over - or underestimation of trips and expenses.

• Measurement errors by interviewers: possibility of not understanding or misinterpreting the respondents answers, typing errors, recall bias, interviewers' bias (Questions laced with interviewer bias can influence respondents in such a way that distorts the outcome of the interview.)

• In case of business trips organized by employers using services of travel agencies, respondents do not know the costs of transport and other services.

• Significant item non-response appears for variables referring to travel ticket/accommodation/other expenditures. For dealing with item non-response, regression imputation methods are used.

• Given that only landline phone numbers are available during the data collection, some of the individuals could only be reached via mobile phones. Another drawback of using landline phone numbers is that some of them might be disabled or wrong numbers given that such contact information was abstracted from the last census 2011.

• Data quality is very good, however detailed breakdowns or variables with lower frequency of occurrence (less than 20 individuals) may be unreliable because of insufficient sample size.

• New in-built validations in the data collection programm. 
• Improvement in the wording of the questions so as to minimize interviewers' bias especially in the type of accommodation question.
• The length, design and complexity of the questionnaire.
• Intensive interviewer's training.

See: Regulation 692/2011

The data are highly sought after by the media, researchers, students and policy makers. Such users can request information through the NSO website and data are provided at aggregated level. Additionally, the data is released through a publication on an annual basis;

Regional Tourism Demand news release:

NSO Malta | Regional and Geospatial Statistics - NSO Malta (gov.mt)

Compliant with the requirements of Regulation on tourism statistics 692/2011, Delegated Regulation 2019/1681, as well as recommendations laid down in the Methodological Manual for tourism statistics.

280,776

2.29%

35,777

8.84%

937,159

1.67%

369,000

2.76%

568,159

1.89%

865,836

1.08%

71,322

6.90%

216,269

3.22%

152,730

4.24%

546,052,779

2.43%

174,819,483

3.22%

Results of the coefficient of variations are rounded to two decimal places.

There is over-representation for households created prior to 2011 and for households which were present in 2011 and no longer exist after 2011. Units which are not eligible for the survey and were included in the sample due to lack of information (e.g. still registered as permanent residents in Malta, but living abroad).

The sampling frame being used covers private households. Hence persons living in institutional households are not being covered. Since the 2011 Census is being used as a sampling frame, households created after 2011 are not well represented. A degree of under-coverage may exist as not all immigrants are immediately captured in the register.

128

12,930

2,878

1,219

0

1,426

5,523

0.43

0.47

0.43

The strategy used for the data collection was stratified random sampling where the strata were constructed using District, Gender and Age Group. Each stratum is adequately represented by a relevant quota. These need to be met for the sample to be representative. The net sample should contain a minimum of 1,823 individuals per quarter.

During the year 2022, the gross sample was 29,280 persons. Of these, a total of 13,058 persons were contacted to participate in this survey and 16,222 were never contacted since all quotas were reached. Out of the total of 13,058 individuals, 7,407 participated, 1,219 were refusals, 188 were not eligible to participate and 4,244 didn't answer their call. Persons who were contacted at least once to no avail were eventually not contacted again due to exhausted quotas. This resulted in a net effective response rate of 85.9 per cent. 

Methods used for dealing with unit non-response: Post-stratification weighting based on respondents' sex, age and district (LAU 1). Figures were inflated over the total population despite being collected from households.

Overnight Trips

The imputation rates are as follows:

Package expenditure - 20.4%
Transport (Travel ticket) expenditure - 16.7%
Accommodation expenditure - 21.6%
Other expenditure - 16.3%

Two different imputation methods are used to deal with item non-response: Imputing the median and Multiple Linear Regression Model.

Note:

Non-sampling error was worked out for each quarter (refer to attached file 'Unit non-response rate_2022').

Unit non-response rate for PARTIC dataset is based only on the non-response rate of Quarter 4 since PARTIC dataset is collected once every year by adding an ad-hoc module in Quarter 4. This ad-hoc module is added to the questionnaire to collect information on the participation in tourism for personal purpose only until the reference year 2022.

Non-sampling error

The gross sample consists of all units that have been contacted only.

2022 presents a break in series because the program to collect data and the outcome classification were changed.

Ineligible units take into account all units that have been contacted once but were not eligible to participate in the survey. (eg. living abroad). It consists of: (1) Ineligible

Eligible units consist of: (1) Completed, (2) Refusal, (3) Non-Contact, (4) Unreachable, (5) Other.

Non-contact units consist of (1) Non-contact.

Refusal consists of units of (1) Refusal.

Other types of non-response units consist of (1) Other.

Model assumption error

The methodology used for weighting assumes that the behavioural characteristics of persons living in households are very similar to those living in institutional households.

Coverage error

Persons who died during surveying and collection processes.

Out of scope

The sampling frame being used covers private households; hence persons living in institutional households are not being covered.

183

183

183

The final, validated and complete results were submitted on 12.07.2023 (12 days after the deadline).

The final, validated and complete results were submitted on 13.07.2023 (13 days after the deadline).

The final, validated and complete results were submitted on 12.07.2023 (12 days after the deadline).

See 3.8.1

On the data for the reference year of 2021 and 2022 trips, micro-data and aggregated data were weighted on the population as estimated by the results of the 2021 Census of Population and Housing.

The revised population figures affected the grossing-up methodology used for the National Tourism survey.

As a result of this revision, there is a temporary break in the series.

See 3.8.2

In 2014, the National Statistics Office introduced a new tool to measure National Tourism in line with Eurostat recommendations in the methodological manual. Up to 2013, data for total outbound trips was collected by means of the ongoing border survey, while information on the last three domestic trips was collected by means of an extra module attached to the Labour Force Survey. As from the reference year 2014, information on the last three trips (outbound + domestic) is collected via quarterly CATI surveys. Due to this change in methodology, National Tourism trips microdata for 2014 were marked with a ‘break in series’ flag.

On the data for the reference year of 2021 and 2022 trips, micro-data and aggregated data were weighted on the population as estimated by the results of the 2021 Census of Population and Housing. The revised population figures affected the grossing-up methodology used for the National Tourism survey. As a result of this revision, there is a temporary break in the series.

See 3.8.3

In 2014, the National Statistics Office introduced a new tool to measure National Tourism in line with Eurostat recommendations in the methodological manual. Up to 2013, data for total outbound trips was collected by means of the ongoing border survey, while information on the last three domestic trips was collected by means of an extra module attached to the Labour Force Survey. As from the reference year 2014, information on the last three trips (outbound + domestic) is collected via quarterly CATI surveys. Due to this change in methodology, National Tourism trips microdata for 2014 were marked with a ‘break in series’ flag.

Survey on domestic and outbound tourism trips, participation in tourism and outbound same-day visits.

Stħarriġ dwar vjaġġi lejn barra minn Malta u/jew lejn Għawdex (Malta).

National Tourism Questionnaire

Persons aged 15+ residing in private households (excluding individuals living in institutions).

Undercoverage Errors:

- Difficulties in locating persons deliberately avoiding the enumerator

- Interviewer errors

- Movements from one house to another during the Census period

- Residents temporarily away during the Census period

- Occupied dwellings classified as unoccupied

- Non-residents who are currently living in Malta

13,058

3,502

13,058

7,407

1,863

7,407

Sampling strategy: Stratified simple random sampling.

Stratification/Cluster variables: Sex, Age group, District

Tourstat survey is used to calibrate outbound tourism trips (overnight) and outbound same-day visits of the National Tourism survey.

Outbound tourism trips and outbound same-day trips are adjusted with the ongoing frontier national survey known as Tourstat. Tourist air departures are collected through a continuous survey carried out at the departure lounge of the Malta International Airport (MIA). A two-stage sampling design is used to collect air passengers. In the first stage, alternate days and nights are selected. In the second stage, within each shift, a sample of passengers is selected systematically. Every crossing passenger is counted and respondents are selected using a pre-defined interval of 1:20 for air. Tourist sea departures are supplemented by administrative data provided by ferry operators.

Participation in tourism is collected only once a year during the data collection of the reference quarter 4.

Data were collected with the use of CATI questionnaires. The data entry application was developed with BLAISE software.

See Annex

See Annex

See Annex

Proxy interviews are discouraged since the survey targets the individual within the household. However, proxy interviews are accepted in cases where the respondent is unable to conduct a survey by telephone. For the reference year 2022, there were conducted 4.7% proxy surveys of the total sample for the four quarters. 

5-8 minutes

10-15 minutes

The completed raw data are further checked for inconsistencies and missing values.

Main checks include:

- Did the respondent undergo the right route in the questionnaire?

- Are the answers logical and consistent?

- Are the time periods possible?

- Are there any overlapping trips?

The electronic questionnaire facilitates the inclusion of validation and consistency checks and thus validation of data is possible during the data collection phase. Once the data is collected, it is transferred to the responsible statistician for data cleaning and statistical analysis. The main aim of this second stage is to assess completeness and item non-response. Special attention is given to completed fields on expenditures. The missing values ​​for expenditures are imputed using regression models based on the destination, departure month, type of accommodation and transportation variables (these variables are mandatory fields in the questionnaire). Monitoring of outliers including length of stay and expenditure categories. Data is thoroughly validated using SPSS and R to ensure the quality and consistency of results. These rules are mainly based on the definitions provided in the methodological manual prepared by Eurostat.

Multiple Linear Regression imputation

Multiple linear regression models are carried out on all expenditure categories. Linear regression is an approach to model the relationship between a scalar dependent variable and one or more explanatory variables. The method requires that the values of one or more auxiliary variables are known for both the complete cases on which the variable of interest is recorded and for the missing cases. A linear regression model relating the variable of interest to the set of auxiliary variables is set up.

The independent variables which are used in the linear regression models to estimate the missing values in our expenditure categories are the following:

- Travel Ticket Expenditure

Dependent variable: Air/Sea Expenditure

Independent variables: Type of trip, Purpose of visit, Final destination, Airline type

- Accommodation Expenditure

Dependent variable: Accommodation Expenditure

Independent variables: Type of trip, Purpose of visit, Type of accommodation used and Nights spent.

- Other Expenditure

Dependent variable: Other Expenditure

Independent variables: Type of trip, Nights spent and Type of accommodation used.

Outlier detection techniques

Two variables that are most likely to be affected by outliers are the number of nights spent and the expenditure categories. The standardized residuals, which are obtained by fitting a multiple linear regression model, are the most commonly used measures for detecting outliers. Observations with resulting standardized residuals exceeding +2 or -2 indicate that one should investigate these data points. An alternative measure that is used for indicating data points that are particularly worth checking for validity is Cook’s distance. A conventional cut-off value that is used for spotting highly influential points is when the resulting Cook’s distance is greater than 4/n, where n is the sample size. The two aforementioned methods are used to detect outliers for the variables nights spent and for the different expenditure categories.