Occupancy trends – The overall occupancy rate in collective accommodation establishments (net use) went down by 3.1 percentage points in August 2008 over the comparative month in 2007, to stand at 86.2 per cent.
Length of stay and nights spent – In August 2008, total nights spent in collective accommodation establishments were recorded at 1,049,531, a decrease of 7.9 per cent over the corresponding month in 2007, with the largest drop being registered in the 3-star hotel category. In the month under review, the average length of stay stood at 7.6 nights.
Regional overview – Accounting for 95.6 per cent of the national bed-stock, the overall supply of bed-places in Malta stood at 37,572 beds, implying a decrease of 5.1 per cent when compared to August 2007. On an annual basis, the net use of bed-places in Malta went down by 3.1 percentage points to 86.4 per cent. Year on year, the average length of stay decreased by 0.7 nights to stand at 7.8 nights. Nights spent by non-residents accounted for 97.6 per cent of total guest-nights in Malta.
In Gozo and Comino, the overall supply of bed-places stood at 1,729 beds, an increase of 4.7 per cent over the comparable month a year ago. The net use of bed-places in August was 84.0 per cent, a decrease of 2.2 percentage points over August 2007. The average length of stay stood at 4.7 nights, an increase of 0.4 nights. Nights spent by non-residents accounted for 77.8 per cent of total guest-nights in Gozo.