Last Updated on Monday, 26 August, 2019 at 3:21 pm by Christian Keszthelyi
The total number of guests in collective accommodation establishments increased by 3.2% (575,275) during Q2 2019, while total nights spent declined by 1.3% (2.8m), compared to the corresponding quarter in 2018, according to the latest figures published by the National Statistics Office (NSO). Gozo and Comino saw declines, figures suggest.
The largest share of guest nights was reported in four-star hotels, accounting for over 1.3m nights, some 48.3% of the total.
The average length of stay went down to 4.8 nights from the average of 5 nights registered during the same quarter of 2018. The net use of bed-places stood at 73.6%, down by 1.3 percentage points.
In addition, there were 206 active collective accommodation establishments in June 2019 with a net capacity of 18,155 bedrooms and 41,680 bed-places on a national level.
Gozo and Comino see drops
On a regional level, total guests in Malta numbered 547,084, up by 3.4% over the second quarter of 2018. However, a decrease of 1% was recorded in the number of nights spent. Total guests and nights spent in Gozo and Comino decreased by 0.7% and 9.5%, to 28,191 and 89,728 respectively.
The average length of stay went down by 0.2 night to 4.9 nights in Malta, while in Gozo and Comino it also decreased by 0.3 night to 3.2 nights, when compared with the same quarter of the previous year. The net occupancy rate in Malta decreased by 1pp to 74.9%, in Gozo and Comino it decreased by 5.9pp to 48.5%.
Total guests dropped to 947,485 during January-June, with a decrease of 0.8% over the same period in the previous year. Total nights spent went down by 4%, reaching nearly 4.5m. The net use of bed-places declined by 3.1 pp to 61%.
The full and detailed report is available for download at the website of NSO.
