Total arrivals in collective accommodation in August stood at 156,329, up by 16.9 per cent over 2009, the National Statistics Office said.

It said that, similarly, total guest nights increased by 10.7 per cent, with an average length of stay of 6.8 nights.

Non-resident arrivals and nights both registered increases, while the average length of stay for non-residents stood at 7.1 nights, down by 0.6 of a night when compared to August 2009.

On the other hand, resident arrivals and nights decreased by 12.4 and 10.3 per cent, respectively, when compared to last year.

The average length of stay for residents remained unchanged at 2.7 nights.

During the month under review, the overall net occupancy rate in collective accommodation establishments stood at 85.1 per cent, a rise of 7.6 percentage points when compared to last year.

Significant increases in occupancy rate were noted in all hotel categories especially among two star and three star hotels.

The non-resident occupancy rate stood at 82.2 per cent, an increase of 7.9 percentage points with respect to 2009 levels.

Residents’ occupancy rate dropped slightly and stood at 2.9 per cent.

In August, total arrivals and nights in Malta both increased over last year and were estimated at 147,067 and 1,019,859, respectively.

The occupancy rate in Malta was calculated at 85.6 per cent. With regard to Gozo and Comino, increases in total arrivals and nights were also noted, with the average length of stay going marginally up by 0.2 of a night.

On a national level, the overall net supply of bed-places rose by 323 over last year.

Slight decreases in the bed-places for Gozo and Comino were contrasted by increases in Malta. On the other hand, the net number of bedrooms for August dropped by 201 and stood at 18,376.