Total nights spent in collective accommodation establishments diminished by 2.5 per cent to 721,416 in October, when compared to the corresponding month in 2004, the National Statistics Office said yesterday. Year-on-year, in October this year, the recorded average length of stay in collective accommodation establishments remained unchanged at 6.7 nights.

Regional overview

Accounting for 95.3 per cent of the national bed-stock, the overall supply of bed-places in the Malta region stood at 37,591 beds, a decrease of 3.5 per cent when compared to last year. Compared to the corresponding month a year ago, in October this year, the net use of bed-places in the Malta region went up by 0.5 percentage points to 60.2 per cent. On the other hand, compared to October 2004, the average length of stay remained unchanged at 6.8 nights.

In Gozo and Comino, a drop was recorded in the overall net use of bed-places during the October period, from 58.7 to 47.0 per cent. This downward trend was attributable both to a drop in the total nights spent in collective accommodation establishments and also to an increase of 3.4 per cent in the overall supply of bed-places, the latter reaching a total of 1,856 beds. Compared to last year, the average length of stay decreased from 4.6 to 4.3 nights

Occupancy Trends

Occupancy trends during October this year reveal a minor drop in the overall net use of bedplaces, when compared to the corresponding month last year. Compared to the same month a year ago, a drop of 3.2 per cent in the overall supply of bed-places was registered. However, despite the recorded drop, year-on-year the overall occupancy rate (net use) went down by 0.1 percentage points to 59.5 per cent in October this year.