The overall occupancy rate in collective accommodation establishments (net use) went down by 10.9 percentage points in March 2009 over the comparative month in 2008, to stand at 38.6 per cent.

Length of stay and nights spent

In March 2009, the total arrivals in collective accommodation establishments were recorded at 75,116, of which 61,102 or 81.3 per cent were non-resident arrivals.

For the period under review, total nights spent in collective accommodation establishments were recorded at 437,980, a decrease of 21.4 per cent over the corresponding month in 2008, with the largest drops being registered in the 4-star and 3-star hotel categories. In the month under review, the average length of stay stood at 5.8 nights.

Regional overview

Accounting for 95.5 per cent of the national bed-stock, the overall supply of bed-places in Malta stood at 37,082 beds, an increase of 1.4 per cent when compared to March 2008. On an annual basis, the net use of bed-places in Malta went down by 10.4 percentage points to 39.4 per cent. The average length of stay stood at 6.0 nights. Nights spent by non-residents accounted for 94.4 per cent of total guest-nights in Malta.

In Gozo and Comino, the overall supply of bed-places stood at 1,736 beds, an increase of 1.2 per cent over the comparable month a year ago. The net use of bed-places in March was 22.7 per cent, a decrease of 18.9 percentage points over March 2008. The average length of stay stood at 2.6 nights, same level as March 2008. Nights spent by non-residents accounted for 57.3 per cent of total guest-nights in Gozo

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