In the fourth quarter of 2022, the largest share of guest nights was reported in 4-star hotels, with 46.4 per cent of the total (Tables 1 and 2).
The average length of stay in collective accommodation establishments went down to 4.2 nights in the fourth quarter of 2022, from the average of 4.6 nights registered during the same quarter of 2021. The net use of bed-places stood at 49.8 per cent, up by 8.9 percentage points when compared to the corresponding quarter of the previous year (Table 3).
On a national level, during December 2022, there were 251 active collective accommodation establishments with a net capacity of 18,227 bedrooms and 41,809 bed-places (Table 4).
Regional breakdown
On a regional level, total guests in Malta numbered 447,098 while number of nights spent stood at 1,913,262. Total guests and nights in Gozo and Comino increased to 21,368 and 54,198 respectively from 19,729 and 54,060 registered in 2021 (Tables 1 and 2).
When compared with the same quarter of the previous year, in Malta, the average length of stay went down by 0.4 of a night to 4.3 nights. In Gozo and Comino the average length of stay decreased by 0.2 of a night to 2.5 nights. The net occupancy rate in Malta increased by 9.6 percentage points, reaching 50.8 per cent, and that in Gozo and Comino decreased by 3.0 percentage points to 29.9 per cent (Table 3).
January-December 2022
Total guests for the year 2022 amounted to 1,812,834, an increase of 831,044 over the same period in 2021 (Table 1). Total nights spent increased by 3,593,362 reaching 8,204,068 nights (Table 2). The net use of bed-places went up by 20.1 percentage points to 53.3 per cent (Table 3).
Chart 1. Total guests and nights spent
No Data Found
Additional Tables and Charts
Methodological Notes
1. The objective of the Survey on Collective Accommodation Establishments is to estimate the utilisation rate of bed-places of all active collective accommodation establishments in Malta and Gozo. The variables collected from the survey include:
● Number of residents;
● Number of non-residents;
● Nights spent by residents;
● Nights spent by non-residents;
● Number of room nights sold to non-residents;
● Number of room nights sold to residents;
● Number of bedrooms;
● Number of bed-places;
● Number of days the establishment was closed during the month under review.
The collection of the above variables and the calculation of occupancy levels are in line with Regulation (EU) No. 692/2011.
2. The survey is distributed monthly to all collective accommodation establishments, namely hotels, guesthouses, hostels and tourist villages.
3. Response rates:
October 2019 92.3% October 2020 96.5%
November 2019 93.3% November 2020 95.9%
December 2019 98.0% December 2020 94.4%
October 2021 91.1% October 2022 93.6%
November 2021 89.8% November 2022 91.9%
December 2021 90.0% December 2022 92.7%
4. In this release, figures for July-September 2022 should be considered as a second estimate while those relating to October-December 2022 are a first estimate, therefore subject to revision in the ensuing release.
5. The Malta Tourism Authority (MTA) classification of all accommodation categories are found in Legal Notice 351 of 2012
6. Users are advised that comparisons between non-resident arrivals recorded in the Inbound Tourism survey (Tourstat, demand-side) and the Collective Accommodation survey (Accomstat, supply-side), should be undertaken in the knowledge that discrepancies will be found. These are mainly due to differences in definitions and methodologies. For more details, one can consult Concept 15.4 of the NSO’s metadata file.
7. Statistics in this news release should be interpreted in context of the COVID-19 situation. In view of the pandemic, guests accommodated in any collective accommodation establishment, and for which their stay was related to health or safety reasons (not related to tourism purposes), have been considered out-of-scope for tourist accommodation statistics and therefore, not recorded for March 2020 – March 2022.
8. Due to the COVID-19 situation, the following tourism-related chronology of events in 2020 happened in Malta:
| 28th February | People flying in from Italy, China (including Hong Kong), Singapore, Japan, Iran and South Korea from 26th February onwards needed to stay in quarantine for 14 days upon arrival. |
| 8th March | Flights from/to Milan were suspended. |
| 10th March | Flights from/to Italy were suspended. |
| 10th March | The last cruise liner call. |
| 11th March | Flights from/to France, Switzerland, Germany and Spain, were suspended. |
| 11th March | People flying in from France, Switzerland, Germany and Spain, needed to stay in quarantine for 14 days upon arrival. |
| 13th March | All people flying in from all destinations needed to stay in quarantine for 14 days upon arrival. |
| 18th March | The last Virtu’ Ferries service for passengers between Malta and Sicily. |
| 21st March | All flights from/to all destinations were suspended. |
| 1st July | Re-opening of Malta International Airport. The first group of destinations that reopened for travel comprised: Germany, Austria, Italy, France, Spain, Poland, Cyprus, Switzerland, Iceland, Slovakia, Norway, Denmark, Hungary, Finland, Ireland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Luxembourg, Czech Republic, Greece and Croatia. |
| 15th July | Restrictions on all other flight destinations were lifted. |
| 21st August | First cruise liner call since March 2020. |
Sources: Malta Tourism Authority, Virtu Ferries and Transport Malta
9. Definitions:
● Bedroom: a unit formed by one room or group of rooms constituting an indivisible rental whole in an accommodation establishment or dwelling.
● Bed-place: in an establishment, this is determined by the number of persons who can stay overnight in the establishment, not taking into account any extra beds that may be provided to clients on request.
● Residents: Maltese/Gozitan residents who check into/out of a collective accommodation establishment. A person is considered to be a Maltese/Gozitan resident if:
(a) S/he has lived for most of the past 12 months in Malta/Gozo;
(b) S/he has lived in Malta/Gozo for less than 12 months but intends to return within a year to settle here.
● Non-residents: foreigners who do not necessarily follow the definition of a tourist and check into/out of a collective accommodation establishment.
● Total guests: the total number of residents and non-residents.
● Total nights spent: the total number of nights which guests actually spend or are registered to spend in a collective accommodation establishment.
● Net use of bed-places: the net occupancy rate calculated for all active accommodation establishments, net of seasonal closures and other temporary closures. The occupancy of bed-places is calculated by dividing the total nights during the reference period by the number of bed-places and the number of days when the bed-places are actually available for use during the reference period. The result is then multiplied by 100 to express the occupancy rate as a percentage.
● Average length of stay: this is calculated as follows:
● Tourist: a visitor who stays at least one night in collective or private accommodation in the place/country visited.
10. Collective Accommodation Establishment data for 2019 has been included in this release for easier comparison with the pre-COVID-19 situation.
11. More information relating to this news release may be accessed at:
Sources and Methods
Statistical Concepts
Metadata
Statistical Database
12. References to this news release are to be cited appropriately.
13. A detailed news release calendar is available online.
For further assistance, please submit your query through our online request form.
- In Quarter 4 2022, total guests in collective accommodation establishments numbered 468,466 while total nights spent amounted to 1,967,460.
- For Quarter 4 2022, the largest share of guest nights (46.4 per cent) was reported in 4-star hotels.
- Net use of bed-places in Quarter 4 2022 increased by 8.9 percentage points to 49.8 per cent.
