Be the first to comment!Travel restrictions for Covid-19 mean fall in guest numbers for Gozo
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The restriction on travel due to Covid-19 has hit the tourism industry hard as data released by the National Statistics Office show that during the first quarter of this year the number of guests and nights spent in Gozo and Comino decreased by 24.9% and 18.6%, to 11,142 and 28,856 respectively.
The NSO noted that the average length of stay in Gozo and Comino registered increased by 0.2 of a night to 2.6 nights, when compared with the same quarter of the previous year.
While the net occupancy rate decreased by 4.6 percentage points to 21.3% over the same quarter of 2019, the NSO said.
On a national level, the total guests and nights spent in collective accommodation establishments during the first quarter decreased by 18.2% and 21.5% respectively, when compared to the corresponding quarter in 2019.
Total guests in collective accommodation establishments during the first quarter numbered 304,564, while total nights surpassed 1.3 million.
The NSO said that the largest share of guest nights was reported in 4-star hotels, accounting for 679,215 nights, or 51.0% of the total.
The average length of stay, in collective accommodation establishments, went down to 4.4 nights in the first quarter from the average of 4.6 nights registered during the same quarter last year, the NSO said.
The net use of bed-places stood at 37.4%, down by 10.3 percentage points when compared to the corresponding quarter of the previous year.
On a national level, during March this year there were 212 active collective accommodation establishments with a net capacity of 18,881 bedrooms and 43,506 bed-places.
Total guests in Malta numbered 293,422, down by 17.9% over the first quarter of 2019. Additionally, a decrease of 21.6% was recorded in the number of nights spent.
In Malta, the average length of stay went down by 0.2 of a night to 4.4 nights. While the net occupancy rate in Malta decreased by 10.6 percentage points, reaching 38.0%.
Photo by Alain Salvary
