The collective accommodation statistics for May 2015 published today by the National Statistics Office show a marginal increase of 0.5% in arrivals in this type of accommodation which excludes private and self catering accommodation facilities, the Malta Tourism Authority said in a statement. Nights spent increased by a stronger 1.5% due to a slightly longer average length of stay when compared to same month last year. The average length of stay for May 2015 was 5.32 nights as opposed to 5.26 nights in May 2014.
These results continue to confirm the trend emerging from the overall inbound tourism figures published by the National Statistics Office which indicate very clearly that the number of tourists choosing to stay in non-collective private accommodation is increasing at a much faster rate than in collective accommodation. In fact, in May 2015, nights spent in private accommodation increased by 12.6%.
Performances during May were overall positive with particular reference to the number of tourists staying in 4 and 3 star hotel establishments which increased by 2.8% and 2.7% respectively. Nights generated by these establishments also grew by 1.9% and 2.2% respectively. 5-star hotel performance was marginally down.
Gozo and Comino over-performed when compared to mainland Malta. In fact while the main island’s results in collective accommodation terms were static in comparison to the previous year, Gozo and Comino grew by 8.8% over May 2014.
A positive performance was recorded for the period January to May 2015, with total arrivals and nights in collective accommodation estimated at 572,409 tourists and 2,989,507 nights respectively; this is equivalent to an increase of 2.1% in arrivals and 1.6% in nights spent. The overall net occupancy rate for the first five months of this year stood at 55.2%, up by 2.7 percentage points over the same period last year. Cumulative increases in arrivals and nights were mainly recorded by hotel accommodation in mainland Malta.
MTA CEO Paul Bugeja reacted positively to these figures saying that the current year’s excellent results are being spread amongst the various components of the industry including the traditional laggards in the lower categories, which from other data available have shown an increase in their average room rates on a consistent basis.
Such performances shall contribute strongly to these categories’ profitability and employment potential, supporting their long term sustainability, creating further confidence in their investment and upgrading strategies. These will in turn continue to consolidate Malta’s competitiveness as a tourism destination in the years to come.