During the month of August the number of Maltese person going abroad, sky rocketed by 18.3%, to 37,859, according to figures published by the National Statistics Office. The majority of outbound trips were towards EU countries, with 32,930, while a further 4,929 trips headed towards non-EU destinations. An increase in traffic of 18% and 17% was registered, toward EU and non-EU destinations. Italy and UK remain the favored destinations among the Maltese, with a hefty 44%. According to the study, outbound tourism throughout this eight-month period stood at 208,859, an increase of 5% when compared to the previous year.