Total guests and nights spent in collective accommodation establishments during the last three months of 2019 advanced by 8% and 2% respectively, when compared to the same period in 2018.

Collective accommodation establishments are namely hotels, guesthouses, hostels and tourist villages. 

In the fourth quarter of 2019, total guests in collective accommodation establishments numbered 485,894, while total nights surpassed 2.2 million.

The largest share of guest nights was reported in four-star hotels, accounting for almost 1.1 million nights, or 48.5% of the total.

The average length of stay in collective accommodation establishments went down to 4.5 nights in the fourth quarter of 2019 from an average of 4.8 nights registered during the same quarter of 2018. The net use of bed-places stood at 57.2%, up by 0.1 percentage points when compared to the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

On a national level, in December, there were 211 active collective accommodation establishments with a net capacity of 18,433 bedrooms and 42,353 bed-places.

Regional breakdown

On a regional level, total guests in Malta numbered 464,627, up by 8.2% over the fourth quarter of 2018. Additionally, an increase of 2.2% was recorded in the number of nights spent.

Total guests in Gozo and Comino increased by 4.9% to 21,267. Conversely, the nights spent decreased by 4.2% to 63,836.

The average length of stay for Malta was calculated at 4.6 nights while that for Gozo and Comino was calculated at three nights. This resulted in a decrease of 0.3 of a night in the average length of stay for both regions, when compared with the same quarter the previous year.

The net occupancy rate in Malta increased by 0.1 percentage points, reaching 58.1%, while that in Gozo and Comino decreased by 2.3 percentage points to 37% over the same quarter in 2018.

January-December 2019

Total guests in 2019 surpassed two million, an increase of 2% over the same period in 2018. Total nights spent went down by 2%, surpassing 9.9 million.

The net use of bed-places declined by 1.9 percentage points to 65.7%.