Hotel guests up by 15% in first five months of 2017

The total number of guests staying at collective accommodation in the first five months of the year amounted to 675,894, an increase of 14.7 per cent over the same period in 2016, the National Statistics Office said yesterday.

Total nights spent went up by 6.7 per cent, surpassing 3.3 million. The net use of bed-places advanced by 2.3 percentage points to 57.8 per cent.

The NSO also published figures for May of this year, which showed that total guests and nights spent in collective accommodation establishments advanced by 8.9 and 2.7 per cent respectively when compared to the corresponding month in 2016.

In May, total guests in collective accommodation establishments numbered 166,842, while total nights spent amounted to 848,039.

Collective accommodation categories registered increases in total nights spent, except for 4star hotels. The largest share of guest nights was reported in 4star hotels, accounting for 384,816 nights, or 45.4 per cent of the total. The average length of stay in collective accommodation establishments went down to 5.1 nights in May 2017 from 5.4 nights in the same month of 2016.

The net use of bed-places stood at 67.9 per cent, down by 0.5 percentage points when compared to the corresponding month last year. On a national level, there were 176 active collective accommodation establishments during May 2017, with a net capacity of 17,868 bedrooms and 40,349 bedplaces.

Regional breakdown

Total guests in Malta numbered 158,219, up by 8.8 per cent over May 2016.

Additionally, an increase of 2.5 per cent was recorded in the number of nights spent.

Total guests and nights spent in Gozo and Comino increased by 11.2 per cent and 7.7 per cent when compared to the comparative month last year, to 8,622 and 31,229 respectively.

In Malta, the average length of stay went down by 0.3 of a night to 5.2, and that in Gozo and Comino edged down by 0.1 of a night to 3.6, when compared with the same month last year.

The net occupancy rate in Malta declined by 0.6 percentage points, reaching 69.0 per cent, and that in Gozo and Comino rose by 2.5 percentage points to 47.9 per cent over the same month of 2016.