Visitors opting for shorter stays

Non-resident occupancy in January stood at 29.4 per cent, down by 0.4 percentage points, while resident occupancy rate was at 2.2 per cent, up by 0.3 percentage points, the National Statistics Office said.

The overall occupancy rate in collective accommodation establishments (net use) amounted to 31.6 per cent, almost unchanged when compared to January last year.

Last January, total arrivals in collective accommodation establishments were recorded at 49,547, an increase of 8.8 per cent over the same month last year. Total nights spent in hotels went up while total nights spent in other collective accommodation declined.

The overall drop in nights was mainly characterised by a decline in the average length of stay.

Last January, the average length of stay stood at 6.4 nights, down by 0.8 nights when compared to the corresponding month last year. This drop featured mostly among non-residents.

The overall net supply of bed-places in Malta was 31,448 beds, a decrease of 1.5 per cent when compared to the corresponding month in 2009.

Year-on-year figures show that the net use of bed-places in Malta stood at 32.3 per cent.

The average length of stay was 6.6 nights. Nights spent by non-residents in Malta accounted for 93.6 per cent of total guest-nights in Malta, standing at 294,477.

The net supply of bed-places in Gozo and Comino stood at 1,155 beds, down by 13.2 per cent when compared to January 2009. The net use of bed-places in January was 14.1 per cent, up by 0.2 percentage points.

The average length of stay stood at 2.8 nights, less than half the average calculated for Malta.

Nights spent by non-residents amounted to 2,384, whereas those spent by residents amounted to 2,658.