The number of guests in hotels and other collective accommodations soared in the first quarter of this year compared to the same period last year as the tourism sector recovered from the fallout of Covid-19.

The National Statistics Office said on Thursday that the number of guests in collective accommodation between January and March stood at 408,989 compared to 253,634 in the same period last year.

Total nights spent amounted to 1,659,501, an increase of 623,283 nights over quarter one of 2022.

The largest share of guest nights was in 4-star hotels, with 48.4 per cent of the total.

Guest nights in hotels in the first part of this year marked a jump from last year.

The average length of stay in collective accommodation establishments in 2023 remained the same as in 2022 at 4.1 nights. The net use of bed-places stood at 45.3 per cent, up by 16.0 percentage points when compared to the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

On a national level, during March 2023, there were 257 active collective accommodation establishments with a net capacity of 18,114 bedrooms and 41,355 bed-places.

Regional breakdown

On a regional level, total guests in Malta numbered 393,810 while the number of nights spent stood at 1,626,829. Total guests and nights in Gozo and Comino increased to 15,179 and 32,672 respectively from 12,548 and 27,678 registered in 2022.

When compared with the same quarter of the previous year, in Malta, the average length of stay went down by 0.1 of a night to 4.1 nights. In Gozo and Comino the average length of stayed the same at 2.2 nights. The net occupancy rate in Malta increased by 16.6 percentage points, reaching 46.3 per cent, and that in Gozo and Comino increase by 1.9 percentage points to 22.0 per cent.