Malta experienced a decrease of 3.5% in the number of nights spent at hotels and similar accommodation in the 2018-19 winter season when compared with that of the previous year, but still had the highest occupancy rate of bed places at these establishments.

Statistics released by the European Union's statistics body Eurostat looked into winter tourism across the Union, finding that winter tourism increased in 25 of the 27 EU member states which provided data (data from Ireland was not available), with the highest increases being recorded in Romania (8.6%), Croatia (7.4%), and Poland (7.3%).

The only two member states that reported a decrease are both Mediterranean destinations perhaps known more for their summer tourism, with these being Malta (-3.5%) and Greece (-8.3%).

In a more general sense, the data found that there had been an increase of 18.9 million nights spent in hotels and similar establishments across the EU throughout the 2018-19 winter season. This equates to an increase of 2.6%, Eurostat said.

In spite of the Malta's decline however, the data shows that the country had the highest occupancy rate of both bed places and bedrooms when compared with the previous year.

The occupancy rate of bed places varied across the months.  The rate was of 55.6% in November, 43% in December, 38.8% in January, 48.8% in February, 56.2% in March, and 73.8% in April for an average of 52.8% for the entire winter season.

That average means that Malta still places highest across the EU, with Spain coming closest with a seasonal rate of 51.9%.  Malta's score however does represent a downturn when compared to the previous period, when the rate of occupancy of bed places stood at 55.8%.  The most significant decline on a monthly basis can be found in March, when there was 6% less occupancy in March 2019 when compared with the same month in 2018.

It is a trend which replicated itself in the calculation of the rate of occupancy of bedrooms, where Malta once again registered the highest peak of occupancy for the whole season across the EU, with 82.1% occupancy in April 2018.

The rates however still point to a decline when compared to the 2017-18 winter season, with declines of over 5% registered in January, February, and March. 

Spain was found to be the most popular EU destination for tourists from all over the world during the 2018-19 winter season, accounting for 20% of all the nights spent by non-residents in hotels and similar establishments.

The United Kingdom and Italy accounted for another 12% each, Austria accounted for a further 10%, while Germany and France followed close behind with 9% of the share each.

Eurostat specified that the winter season is defined as running from November to the April of the following year, meaning that this bracket of statistics caters for November 2018 to April 2019.