July hotel occupancy levels down

The overall occupancy rate in collective accommodation establishments went down by 5.3 percent in July over the comparative month in 2007, to stand at 82.2 percent, the National Statistics Office said.

It said that in July, the total nights spent in collective accommodation establishments were recorded at 1,014,582, a decrease of 8.1 percent over the corresponding month in 2007, with the largest drop being registered in the three-star hotel category.

In the month under review, the average length of stay was at 7.5 nights.

Accounting for 95.7 per cent of the national bed-stock, the overall supply of bed-places in Malta was 38,089 beds, a decrease of 2.8 percent when compared to July 2007.

Over the comparative month last year, the net use of bed-places in Malta went down by 4.8 percentage points to 82.8 percent. Year on year, the average length of stay decreased by 0.5 nights to stand at 7.7 nights. Nights spent by non-residents accounted for 97.6 percent of total guest-nights in Malta.

In Gozo and Comino, the overall supply of bed-places stood at 1,729 beds, an increase of four percent over the comparable month a year ago. The net use of bed-places in July was 71.2 per cent, a decrease of 9.6 percentage points over July 2007.

The average length of stay stood at 4.7 nights, a decrease of 0.2 nights. Nights spent by non-residents accounted for 79.7 percent of total guest-nights in Gozo.