Tourist numbers up by 12.7 per cent so far this year

12:02 Updated with Tourism Ministry reaction Inbound tourism increased by a massive 12.7 per cent in the first three months of 2016 when compared to 2015, figures from the National Statistics Office show.  The increase meant total nights spent and tourist expenditure also rose significantly when compared to the first three months of 2015, by 10.4 per cent and 9.3 per cent respectively.  Tourism Minister Edward Zammit Lewis hailed the result as a great success, saying that the numbers suggested that Maltese tourism was no longer reliant on the summer months. "We are overcoming our tourism's seasonality," he said.  281,341 people visited Malta between January and March, spending more than 2 million nights here between them. The NSO estimates that they spent an €209.4 million in their time here - an average of €744 each, which is 3 per cent less than than the average tourist spend in the first three months of last year.  NSO figures suggest Russian, Swedish, Swiss and American tourists are the most likely to splash out, with their average per capita expenditure all topping the €1,000 mark. The data suggests Libyan arrivals spent even more, but the NSO urged caution in reading too...