57,000 more guests in tourist accommodation this summer

Tourist accommodation welcomed an additional 57,000 visitors this summer when compared to last year, recent National Statistics Office (NSO) figures show.

Between July and September, tourist accommodation establishments saw over 782,000 visitors, an increase of around 7.9% when compared to the same period last year, when the sector welcomed just over 725,000 people.

Gozo proved especially popular; guest numbers increased by almost 20% to 46,800, while guest nights rose by 12%.

Meanwhile, the number of guest nights reached 3.87 million over the same period, an increase of six per cent compared to last year.

While more visitors flocked to Malta’s hotels, they stayed for less time; guests stayed an average of 4.9 nights country-wide, which the NSO said was less than last year.

The picture varied by region, however; while the length of stays in Malta remained stable at 5.1 nights, the average duration of visits to Gozo decreased to 3.2 nights.

Four-star hotels proved the most popular type of accommodation, accounting for almost half (48.6%) of the total, while accommodation use remained stable at around 80% occupancy.