Hotels see occupancy rise in February

Occupancy in hotels and other tourist accommodation rose by 1.3 percent to to 65,946 in February when compared to the same month last year.

However, the number of guest nights were down to 369,962, 4.5 per cent less than in February last year.

The National Statistics Office said an increase in non-residents was partly offset by a decline in resident arrivals.

The overall net occupancy rate amounted to 39.2 per cent. Non-resident occupancy stood at 35.8 per cent, down by 0.2 percentage points, while resident occupancy stood at 3.4 per cent, up by 0.1 percentage points.

In February, the average length of stay stood at 5.6 nights, down by 0.4 nights when compared to the corresponding month last year.

The overall net supply of bed-places in Malta was 32,401 beds, a decrease of 4.1 per cent when compared to February last year. Year-on-year figures show that the net use of bed-places in Malta stood at 39.7 per cent.

The average length of stay was 5.8 nights. Nights spent by non-residents in Malta accounted for 92.8 per cent of total guest-nights standing at 334,549.

The net supply of bed-places in Gozo and Comino stood at 1,332 beds, down by 3.8 per cent when compared with February 2009. The net use of bed-places in February was 25.4 per cent, down by 2.3 percentage points while the average length of stay stood at 2.3 nights.

Nights spent by non-residents amounted to 3,427 whereas those spent by residents amounted to 6,059.