Majority of tourists in Malta opt for 4-star hotels

A survey carried out by the National Statistics Office showed that total arrivals and nights spent in collective accommodation establishment during June increased 4.5 and 1.1% respectively when compared to the corresponding month last year.

Total arrivals in collective accommodation establishments reached 138,809, with over 40% of these arrivals recorded by 4-star hotel. 5-star hotels accounted for 27.2 per cent of total.

Total guest nights numbered 797,554, while the average length of stay stood at 5.7 nights.

Increases in arrivals were noted in all accommodation categories except for the 3-star hotel category, which declined by 7.7%.

Nights spent increased in almost all hotel categories except for 4-star hotels, where guest nights decreased by 2.2%.

The net use of bed-places in collective accommodation stood at 68.6%, down by 0.3 percentage points when compared to 2011. The drop in the number of guest nights caused a decrease of 4.7 percentage points in the net occupancy rate recorded for 4-star hotels.

In contrast, occupancy levels in 5-star and 3-star hotels increased by 1.2 and 2.9 percentage points respectively. The 2-star hotel category also registered a sharp increase in occupancy rate, reaching 40.2%, compared to the 36.4% registered last year.

On a national level, there were 156 active establishments during the month under review - two more than last year. There were increases in both the number of bedrooms and bed-places, reaching 17,988 and 38,735 respectively. On average, there were 2.2 beds per room.

Total arrivals for the second quarter this year amounted to 387,995, up by 4.7% when compared to the corresponding period last year. Non-resident arrivals rose in almost all collective accommodation establishments and amounted to 356,417. Resident arrivals went up by 4.1 per cent and reached 31,578.

Total nights reached 2.1 million - 2.1% more than last year. A sharp rise in nights spent by foreign residents was noted among 3-star hotels, which totalled 381,642. Similarly, resident nights in 3-star hotels increased substantially over 2011 amounting to 9,852.

The occupancy rate for the second quarter was estimated at 61.2% - 1.5 percentage points higher than last year, ranging from 64.1% in hotels to 45.7% in other collective accommodation establishments.

Total arrivals and nights spent in collective accommodation establishments in Malta totalled 366,308 and 2.0 million respectively. Both figures increased when compared to 2011. Nights spent by residents in Malta advanced by 10%.

According to NSO, this was mainly caused by a sharp rise in nights spent by residents in 3-star hotels, which nearly quadrupled when compared to last year. Overall, the average length of stay remained practically unchanged when compared to last year's levels, and stood at 5.6 nights.

In Gozo and Comino, both resident and non-resident arrivals registered increases when compared to last year and numbered 9,686 and 12,001 respectively. A sharp increase in non-resident nights was also noted in 4-star hotels, which amounted to 34,325.

The occupancy rate in Malta went slightly up by 1 percentage point to 61.8 per cent, while that in Gozo and Comino stood at 49.6 per cent.