December arrivals, tourists nights down over 2010

Non-resident arrivals amounted to 58,566, almost unchanged when compared to December 2010. Non-resident nights went down by 3.5 per cent to 298,131. The average length of stay was calculated at 5.1 nights, marginally down by 0.2 of a night over the previous year. There was a drop in the number of nights spent in virtually all accommodation categories with the exception of 4-star hotels.

Resident arrivals amounted to 16,796, whereas resident nights numbered 32,128. Both figures recorded slight increases over December 2010. Meanwhile the average length of stay remained unchanged at 1.9 nights.

The overall net occupancy rate in collective accommodation stood at 28.1 per cent, down by 0.3 percentage points when compared with 2010 levels. Occupancy levels increased in the 4 and 3 star hotel categories and stood at 33.6 and 19.9 per cent respectively. The net use of bed-places by non-residents edged down by 0.5 percentage points over the previous year, and amounted to 25.3 per cent. The net occupancy rate by Maltese residents stood at 2.7 per cent, slightly lower than that for 2010.

Regional Breakdown

Total arrivals and nights in Malta amounted to 71,660 and 321,272 respectively. The average length of stay was 0.2 of a night lower than that calculated for 2010 and stood at 4.5 nights.

Increases in arrivals were counter balanced by drops in the number of nights, causing the average length of stay to decline.

Total arrivals in Gozo and Comino numbered 3,702, up by 6.4 per cent when compared to December 2010. Total nights in this region increased by 561 and stood at 8,987. Average length of stay remained unchanged at 2.4 nights.

During December 2011 the occupancy rate in Malta stood at 28.6 per cent, down by 0.4 percentage points. This drop was mainly caused by fewer foreign guests residing in other collective accommodation establishments. A further drop of 2.2 percentage points was registered in the occupancy rate of 5-star hotels (Table 4). In Gozo and Comino, the net use of bed-places stood at 17.0 per cent. Overall, the highest increase in occupancy rate in Gozo and Comino was registered among the 3-star hotels, standing at 40.7 per cent. This was due to an increase in the number of Maltese tourists opting to reside in this type of hotel category when visiting Gozo.

Overall, the total number of bed-places in the Maltese Islands counted 34,363, with an average of 2.1 beds per room. The percentage share of bedrooms in Malta is 96.0 per cent of total (15,508).

Bedrooms and bed-places in Gozo and Comino amounted to 649 and 1,358 respectively.