Tourism - Lower occupancy in October

Overall occupancy in collective accommodation establishments in October went down by 4.9 percent when compared to the same month last year.

The total nights spent in collective accommodation establishments were recorded at 710,633, a decrease of 6.8 per cent over the corresponding month in 2007, with the largest drops being registered in the three-star and four-star hotel categories. The average length of stay stood was 6.6 nights.

Accounting for 95.5 per cent of the national bed-stock, the overall supply of bed-places in Malta stood at 37,142 beds, a decrease of 1.3 per cent when compared to October last year.

On an annual basis, the net use of bed-places went down by 4.8 percent to 59.4 percent. The average length of stay stood at 6.8 nights. Nights spent by non-residents accounted for 96.9 percent of total guest-nights in Malta.

In Gozo and Comino, the overall supply of bed-places stood at 1,736 beds, an increase of 6.6 percent over the comparable month a year ago. The net use of bed-places in September was 52.8 per cent, a decrease of 5.9 percent over October 2007. The average length of stay stood at 4.4 nights, a decrease of 0.2 nights.