In data released by the National Statistics Office today, it shows that during the third quarter of this year the number of guests in Gozo and Comino decreased by 29.6% to 24,480. The number of nights spent went down by 49.2% to 66,838.

The NSO noted that the average length of stay in Gozo and Comino decreased by 1.1 nights to 2.7 nights, compared to the same quarter last year. While the net occupancy rate decreased by 25.7 percentage points to 40.7%.

Total guests during the first nine months of this year in Gozo and Comino amounted to 39,099, down by 49.7% when compared to the same period last year when the figure stood at 77,807.

On a national basis, total guests and nights spent in collective accommodation establishments during the third quarter of 2020 decreased by 55.1% and 66.3% respectively, when compared to the corresponding quarter in 2019.

The NSO said that during the third quarter, total guests in collective accommodation establishments amounted 264,444, while total nights accounted for almost 1.1 million nights.

The largest share of guest nights was reported in 4-star hotels and 3-star hotels, with 47.9% and 24.3% of the total respectively.

The average length of stay, in collective accommodation establishments during the third quarter of the year, decreased from 5.5 nights in 2019 to 4.1 nights in 2020. The net use of bed-places stood at 30.0%, down by 53.0 percentage points when compared to the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

The NSO noted that on a national level, during September 2020, there were 199 active collective accommodation establishments with a net capacity of 17,599 bedrooms and 40,920 bed-places.

On a regional level, total guests in Malta numbered 239,964, down by 56.7% over the third quarter last year. Additionally, a decrease of 67.0% was recorded in the number of nights spent, the NSO said.

The average length of stay in Malta decreased by 1.3 nights to 4.3 nights when compared with the same quarter of the previous year.

The net occupancy rate in Malta decreased by 54.4 percentage points, reaching 29.5%.

On a national level, total guests during the first nine months of 2020 amounted to 586,173, a decrease of 61.9% over the same period in 2019. Total nights spent went down by 67.7%, reaching nearly 2.5 million. The net use of bed-places declined by 38.3 percentage points to 30.4%.

In reaction to today’s figures released by the NSO, the Tourism Ministry in a statement said that, while the progress of Covid-19 and its strong impact on foreign incomes have led to a sharp decline in foreign tourism, the statistics indicate that domestic tourism has “exploded” this year.

It noted that, “while measures such as vouchers have greatly helped operators in Malta, there has been a very strong positive impact on the island of Gozo.”

The number of local tourists has increased by almost 4,200. Looking at Gozitan 4-star hotels, the number of Maltese tourists has doubled compared to 2019, the Ministry said.

It highlighted the fact that “thanks to the extraordinary increase in domestic tourism, the overall number of tourists staying in Gozitan 4-star hotels between July and September 2020 was only a few hundred less than in 2019, despite what happened to foreign tourism.”

When it comes to Gozitan 5-star hotels, the number of local tourists has risen to more than 6,000. The Tourism Ministry pointed out that this is one and a half times more than the number of foreign tourists who stayed in 5-star Gozitan hotels in the summer of 2019.

Photo by Alain Salvary

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