Tourist arrivals in January increased by 5.9 per cent over January 2014, the NSO reported today.

In January 2015, total arrivals in hotels numbered 71,199, while total nights spent amounted to 401,831. All collective accommodation categories recorded increases in nights spent, except for 5-star and 3-star hotels.

The largest share of guest nights was reported in 4-star hotels, accounting for 213,711 nights, or 53.2 per cent of the total.

The average length of stay in collective accommodation establishments was at 5.6 nights, at par with last year.

The net use of bed-places stood at 38.8 per cent, an increase of 4.1 percentage points when compared to January 2014.

Regional breakdown

Total arrivals in Malta numbered 68,828, up by 7.3 per cent over January 2014. Additionally, an increase of 7.8 per cent was recorded in the number of nights spent. Meanwhile, the average length of stay was 5.7 nights, at par with last year. The net occupancy rate went up from 35.2 per cent to 39.5 per cent.

Total arrivals and nights spent in Gozo and Comino decreased by 23.3 and 26.5 per cent when compared to the comparative month last year, to 2,371 and 6,709 respectively.

Capacity
On a national level, there were 135 active collective accommodation establishments during January, with a net capacity of 15,465 bedrooms and 34,000 bed-places. On
average each establishment had 2.2 beds per room