The overall occupancy rate in collective accommodation establishments (net use) went up by 1.6 percentage points in January 2008 when compared to the same month a year earlier, to stand at 34.9 per cent. The increase in the net use rate does not appear to be on a level with the increase in guest-nights mainly on account of the fact that various collective accommodation establishments that are normally dormant in January remained active.

Length of stay

and nights spent

In January 2008, total nights spent in collective accommodation establishments were recorded at 379,041, an increase of 8.0 per cent over the corresponding month in 2007. Year on year, the average length of stay in collective accommodation establishments decreased by 1.2 nights to 6.5 nights.

Regional overview

Accounting for 95.5 per cent of the national bed-stock, the overall supply of bed-places in the Malta region stood at 36,195 beds, implying a decrease of 1.7 per cent when compared to the same month in 2007. On an annual basis, the net use of bed-places in the island of Malta went up by 1.4 percentage points to 35.5 per cent. Year on year, the average length of stay decreased by 1.2 nights to 6.7 nights. Nights spent by non-residents accounted for 95.4 per cent of total guest-nights in Malta.

In Gozo and Comino, the overall supply of bed-places stood at 1,715 beds, an increase of 5.2 per cent over the comparable month a year earlier. The net use of bed-places in January was 17.4 per cent, an increase of 3.7 percentage points over the same month in 2007.

The average length of stay stood at 2.6 nights, an increase of 0.1 nights. Nights spent by non-residents accounted for 58.4 per cent of total guest-nights in Gozo.