4.1% increase in collective establishment arrivals in October

A total of 158,969 tourists stayed in collective accommodation in October 2015, a registered 4.1% increase over the same month last year. National statistics also show that total nights spent in hotels and similar establishments amounted to 876,000, 33,992 nights more or a +4% increase when compared to October 2014.  The average length of stay remained constant at 5.5 nights.

During the month of October, arrivals and nights in collective accommodation increased for both mainland Malta and Gozo, the latter registering higher growth rates of +9.5% in arrivals and +6.2% in nights spent.

Whilst all accommodation categories registered increases, October was particularly positive for the lower category establishments; 3 star and 2 star hotels show an increase in arrivals of 9.5% and 15.3% respectively. Furthermore all accommodation categories recorded higher occupancy rates compared to October 2014.  Total occupancy rate for October 2015 stood at 69.7%, 2.9 percentage points more over same month a year ago.

A positive performance was recorded for the period January to October 2015, with total arrivals and nights in collective accommodation estimated at 1,389,922 tourists and 7,906,880 nights respectively; this is equivalent to an increase of 2.0% in arrivals and 1.5% in nights spent. The overall net occupancy rate for the first eight months of this year stood at 67.3%, up by 1.7 percentage points over the same period last year. Cumulative increases in arrivals and nights were recorded by hotel accommodation in both mainland Malta and Gozo.