The ongoing restrictions on travel due to Covid-19 during the second quarter of this year, has continued to impact the tourism industry in Gozo and Malta.

Data released by the National Statistics Office show that during the second quarter of this year the number of guests and nights spent in Gozo and Comino decreased by 87.7% and 90.2%, to 3,477 and 8,796 respectively.

The average length of stay in Gozo and Comino also decreased, by 0.7 of a night to 2.5 nights, when compared with the same quarter of the previous year, the NSO said. While the net occupancy rate decreased by 30.7 percentage points to 17.8% over the same quarter last year.

Total guests in Gozo and Comino during the first six months of this year amounted to 14,619, this was down by 66.0% on last year.

On a national basis, total guests and nights spent in collective accommodation establishments during the second quarter of 2020 decreased by 97.0% and 97.7% respectively, when compared to the corresponding quarter in 2019.

The NSO noted that in the second quarter of this year, total guests in collective accommodation establishments numbered 17,151, while total nights amounted to 64,161.

It said that the largest share of guest nights was reported in 4-star hotels and 3-star hotels, with 27.7% and 25.7% of the total respectively.

Average length of stay in collective accommodation establishments during the second quarter , went down to 3.7 nights from the average of 4.8 nights registered during the same quarter of 2019.

The net use of bed-places stood at 6.5%, down by 67.1 percentage points when compared to the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

During June this year and on a national level, there were 81 active collective accommodation establishments with a net capacity of 9,897 bedrooms and 24,009 bed-places.

Total guests in Malta numbered 13,674, down by 97.5% over the second quarter of last year. Additionally, a decrease of 97.9% was recorded in the number of nights spent.

The NSO said that when compared with the same quarter of the previous year, in Malta, the average length of stay went down by 0.9 of a night to 4.0 nights. The net occupancy rate in Malta decreased by 69.0 percentage points, reaching 5.9%.

Total guests in the first six months of this year amounted to 321,723, a decrease of 66.0% over the same period in 2019. Total nights spent went down by 68.7%, reaching nearly 1.4 million.

The net use of bed-places declined by 30.3 percentage points to 30.7%, the NSO said.

Photo by Alain Salvary

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