A hotels occupancy survey covering the second quarter has reported poor results 'on all fronts' but business in the crucial months of July and August was not as bad as some commentators had predicted, although it was still significantly below 2007 and 2008, the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association (MHRA) said today.

Association president Kevin DeCesare said that with global economic sentiment showing signs of improvement, Malta needed to be fast off the blocks and must adopt a clear strategy to recover lost ground as quickly as possible.

The survey shows that in the second quarter, five-star hotels saw their occupancy slide by 12 percent to 63%. Four star hotels saw their levels drop from 81% in Q2 of 2008 to 68% this year, while three-star hotels were the worst hit, with a 27% drop to 59%.

Raphael Aloisio, Partner, Deloitte, who conducted the survey, said results for the first six months of the year were the worst of the past six years.

Although tourist arrivals were marginally higher than in the first six months of 2007, a steadily decreasing average length of stay had resulted in a significantly lower level of 'achieved guest nights', which was one of the most impotant performance indicators.

,

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.