The number of tourists coming to Malta has grown more than three times faster than the amount of Maltese people travelling abroad in the last three years.In the period between January and June of 2023, inbound tourist trips amounted to 1,289,292. By 2026, this number increased to 2,131,825, marking a 65% increase.Outbound tourism (Maltese citizens travelling abroad) had a much smaller rise in that same period, rising from 347,623 trips in the first half of 2023 to 419,940 in 2026 – an increase of 20.8%.The divergence has been evident throughout the post-pandemic recovery. Back in the first half of 2024, inbound tourism was already growing almost four times faster than Maltese outbound travel, with arrivals up 23.4% year-on-year compared to a 6% increase in residents travelling abroad.Interestingly, the pre-pandemic figures tell a different story, with outbound travel by Maltese residents at times growing faster than inbound tourism. Between the first half of 2013 and the first half of 2016, outbound travel rose by 38.7%, compared with a 24.4% in inbound tourism.During the same periods between 2017 and 2019, outbound tourism increased by 26.7% while inbound tourism increased by 22%.Between 2020 and 2022, both inbound and outbound tourism fell sharply as the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted international travel. However, the post-pandemic recovery has seen a boom in visitors to Malta with growing numbers each year.Tourism expenditure has risen alongside visitor numbers, increasing from €1.04 billion in the first half of 2023 to €1.80 billion in 2026, an increase of roughly 73%, slightly outpacing the growth in tourist arrivals over the same period.On average, visitors also spent slightly more during the post-pandemic recovery. Average expenditure per tourist increased from roughly €804 in the first half of 2023 to around €842 in 2026, despite a small dip compared to 2025.What do you make of these numbers?•