Guest numbers, nights in hotels go up in third quarter 2018 – NSO

Total guests and nights spent in collective accommodation during the third quarter of 2018 increased by 5.5 and 3.2 per cent respectively when compared to the corresponding quarter in 2017, the National Statistics Office said yesterday.

During the quarter under review, total guests in collective accommodation establishments numbered 578,350, while total nights spent amounted to almost 3.3 million. The largest share of guest nights was reported in 4star hotels, accounting for over 1.5 million nights, or 46.1 per cent of the total.

The average length of stay in collective accommodation establishments stood at 5.7 nights in the third quarter of 2018, down by 0.1 of a night when compared with the same quarter of 2017. The net use of bed-places stood at 84.1 per cent, up by 2.2 percentage points when compared to the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

During September 2018, there were 202 active collective accommodation establishments with a net capacity of 18,731 bedrooms and 42,696 bed-places on a national level.

On a regional level, total guests in Malta numbered 543,467, up by 5.8 per cent over the third quarter of 2017. Additionally, an increase of 3.4 per cent was recorded in the number of nights spent. In Gozo and Comino total guests went up by 1.0 per cent to 34,883, while total nights spent decreased by 0.8 per cent to 138,847.

The average length of stay in both Malta and Gozo and Comino registered a drop of 0.1 of a night when compared to the same quarter of the previous year, to stand at 5.8 and 4.0 nights respectively. The net occupancy rate in Malta increased by 2.2 percentage points, reaching 84.7 per cent, and that in Gozo and Comino increased by 1.6 percentage points to 71.9 per cent over the same quarter of 2017 (Table 3). January-September 2018 Total guests during the first nine months of 2018 surpassed 1.5 million, an increase of 9.8 per cent over the same period in 2017. Total nights spent went up by 7.2 per cent, exceeding 7.9 million. The net use of bed-places advanced by 2.9 percentage points to 71.1 per cent.