4-star hotels most popular form of accomodation-NSO

During the reference month of November, the majority of guest nights were spent in 4-star hotel accommodation.

These amounted to 267,545 nights, or 54.5% of the total. The 4-star hotels also registered the highest increase in arrivals when compared to the previous year, equivalent to 21.8%.

On the other hand, guest nights in 3-star hotels rose by 14.3% - the largest increase among collective accommodation establishments.

Despite the increase in total arrivals, the number of overnight stays in 5-star hotels edged down by 0.5%, reflecting a decline in the average length of stay.

Overall, the average length of stay was calculated at 5.3 nights, down by 0.4 of a night over November 2011.

The net use of bed places during November stood at 42.8%. Overall, 4-star hotels had the highest percentage occupancy level, with 53.3% according to the NSO.

The highest increase in occupancy rate was 4%. This was registered among 3-star hotels, while 5-star hotels maintained their levels at par with those of 2011.

Collective accommodation establishments in Malta registered increases of 13.7% and 6.1% in the number of arrivals and nights spent respectively. Despite an increase in arrivals noted throughout all accommodation categories, a drop of 8.2% was recorded in 'other collective accommodation' establishments.

All collective accommodation establishments in Gozo and Comino registered drops in total guest arrivals. Similar decreases were noted in the number of nights spent, with the exception of 4-star hotels, where an increase of 11.1% was registered.

In Malta the average length of stay declined by 0.4 of a night, and stood at 5.4 nights, while that for Gozo and Comino stood at 2.9 nights.

On a national level, there were 138 collective accommodation establishments operating during November, with a net capacity of 17,318 bedrooms and 38,248 bed places. On average, each establishment had 2.2 beds in each room.

Bed places in Malta accounted for 96.5% of the total capacity while Gozo and Comino held 1,393 bed places, equivalent to 3.5% of the total net capacity.