Tourist arrivals rose by 8.5% in December compared to the same month on the previous year, while nights spent in hotels and other tourist  establishments
grew by 12.2 per cent, official figures issued today by the NSO show.
 
Total arrivals during December stood at 78,251.

Total guest nights in collective accommodation establishments amounted to 372,085, with an average length of stay of 4.8 nights, the National Statistics Office said.

Around 48 per cent of these nights were spent in 4-star hotels, while 5-star hotels accounted for 21.7 per cent of the total. Increases in arrivals were noted in almost all accommodation categories, with the exception of 2-star hotels.

The net use of bed-places in collective accommodation establishments stood at 33.6 per cent, up by 2.6 percentage points when compared to the corresponding month in 2011. The occupancy rate in hotel accommodation and in ‘other collective accommodation’ stood at 35.3 and 23.4 per cent respectively. Occupancy levels in 5-star and 3-star hotels increased by 2.8 and 7.9 percentage points respectively. In contrast, 4-star and 2-star hotels registered drops in occupancy levels when compared to December 2011.

On a national level, the net number of bedrooms and bed-places stood at 16,407 and 35,892 respectively.
 
Total arrivals for the last quarter of 2012 amounted to 297,348, up by 6.4 per cent when compared to the corresponding quarter during the previous year. Non-resident arrivals rose in almost all hotel categories and amounted to 252,652. Resident arrivals went up by 11.3 per cent to stand at 44,696.

Total nights spent between October and December amounted to over 1.6 million, a 6.1 per cent increase over the corresponding quarter in 2011. Nights spent by non-residents went up by 5.9 per cent and resident nights increased by 8.5 per cent, to 91,196.