Tourists prefer four-star hotels

Most of the tourists who came to Malta in September stayed in four-star hotels, according to statistics published this morning by the National Statistics Office.

The NSO said that total arrivals and nights spent in collective accommodation establishments increased by 4.4 and 2.6 per cent, when compared to last year.

Total guest nights were calculated at 840,834 (141,913 arrivals), while the average length of stay being 5.9 nights. Increases in arrivals were noted in almost all accommodation categories with the exception of three-star hotels, where a minor drop was recorded.

The number of nights spent in collective accommodation increased in all hotel categories when compared to last year. The four-star hotel category took up the largest share of guest nights, and registered an increase of 2.3 per cent over last year.

The net use of bed-places in collective accommodation stood at 71.4 per cent, up by 0.8 percentage points when compared to 2011.

Occupancy levels in 5-star hotels increased by 3.3 per cent, while 4-star hotel establishments recorded a drop of 3.5 per cent.

Increases were also noted in other collective accommodation, where the occupancy level was 54.3 per cent.

July-September

Total arrivals for the third quarter this year amounted to 437,037, up by 4.3 per cent when compared to last year. Increases in non-resident arrivals were noted throughout all accommodation categories, and totalled 402,541. Resident arrivals went up by 5.2 per cent to 34,496.

Total nights spent between July and September reached 2,869,387 - three per cent higher than last year.

The occupancy rate was estimated at 79 per cent - 1.5 percentage points higher than last year.