Hotels and guesthouses are not reaping the full benefit of the increasing numbers of tourists, with tourist arrivals up by 17.4 per cent in the first half of the year, but nights spent up by 10.2 per cent.

The National Statistics Office reported on Friday that the total number of guests staying in collective accommodation between January and June reached 954,759, an increase of 12.5 per cent over the same period in 2017. Total nights spent went up by 10.2 per cent, reaching nearly 4.7 million.

However, during that same period, 1,162,344 tourists arrived, an increase of 17.4 per cent while the total nights spent in Malta went up by 17.8 per cent, reaching nearly 7.7 million nights.

The NSO also reported that in June 2018, there were 196 active collective accommodation establishments with a net capacity of 18,505 bedrooms and 41,881 bed-places on a national level.

Read: AirBnB willing to collect tourist tax

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