Occupancy up, nights down in April

In April 2006, total nights spent in collective accommodation establishments were recorded at 592,271, an increase of 6.0 per cent over the corresponding month in 2005. Year-on-year, the average length of stay in collective accommodation establishments diminished by 0.3 nights to 6.0 nights.
Accounting for 95.7 per cent of the national bed-stock, the overall supply of bed-places in the Malta region stood at 38,096 beds, an increase of 6.4 per cent when compared to a year earlier. On an annual basis the net use of bed-places in the Malta region went down by 0.6 percentage points to 51.9 per cent in April 2006. The average length of stay was at 6.1 nights, down by 0.3 nights when compared to the same month last year.
In the Gozo and Comino region, the overall net use of bed-places in April was at 34.1 per cent, an increase of 5.2 percentage points over the same month a year ago. The average length of stay was at 3.2 nights.
The overall occupancy rate (net use) in April 2006 went down by 0.4 percentage points when compared to April last year, to 51.1 per cent. Year-on-year, an increase of 6.2 per cent was registered in the overall supply of bed-places.