Hotel guest numbers skyrocket in Q2 year-on-year

The number of guests staying in hotels skyrocketed in the second quarter of 2026 when compared to the same period in 2025

857,857 guests stayed in collective accommodation establishments (namely hotels, guesthouses, hostels and tourist villages) during the second quarter, almost 100,000 more than in the same quarter in 2025, when the number stood at 761,210.

In 2023 and 2024, the number of guests in such accommodation stood at 636,342 and 705,053 respectively. This shows the increasing popularity of Malta as a tourist destination during the months of April through to June.

Malta’s tourism sector has experienced a boom in recent years, with tourism numbers skyrocketing. In 2019, the last full year before the COVID-19 pandemic, Malta welcomed 2.75 million tourists. This number rose to 4.02 million last year, and the country is on track to beating this record this year.

Meanwhile, the number of hotels and collective accommodation establishments, as well as the number bed places they offer, has also risen. In January 2020, Malta had 215 collective accommodation establishments, providing 43,242 bed-places. In June 2026, there were 368 active collective accommodation establishments with a net capacity of 56,329 bed-places.

The data does not include short-let accommodation. To put matters into perspective, while 1.51 million guests stayed in collective accommodation establishments in the first half of this year, a number which includes Maltese residents also, the number inbound tourists into the country for the first six months of 2026 amounted to 2.13 million, a far higher number.

Facing questions regarding overtourism earlier this year, President of the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association Tony Zahra said that tourist numbers should not be limited, however indicated that bed supply can be.

The data also shows that the highest increases in guest numbers were registered in 4 and 3-star hotels.

The largest number of guests in Q2 was reported in 4-star hotels (363,173 guests). 3-star hotels had the second highest number of guests, 227,837, and 5-star hotels the third highest with 143,885. When compared to the same quarter in 2025, the highest increases in guest numbers in hotels were in 4 and 3-star hotels, increases of around 34,000 and 36,000 respectively. The number of guests in 5-star hotels increased by around 11,400 over the same quarter in 2025.

The number of guests in 2-star hotels decreased slightly, while those in guest houses, hostels and tourist villages increased by around 15,700.

In total, guests spent 3.61 million nights in collective accommodation during the second quarter, up from 3.31 million a year prior. But this is due to the increase in guest numbers, as the average length of stay slightly decreased to 4.2 nights when compared to the same quarter of 2025. The largest share of guest nights in Q2 this year was reported in 4-star hotels, with 48.2 per cent of the total.

The net use of bed-places stood at 71.3 per cent.

Regional breakdown

On a regional level, total guests in Malta during Q2 numbered 815,688, up by 12.7 per cent over the second quarter of 2025. Additionally, an increase of 8.9 per cent was recorded in the number of nights spent, reaching 3.5 million nights. Total guests in Gozo and Comino increased by 12.6 per cent to 42,169, while nights increased by 13.5 per cent to 114,788.

When compared with the same quarter of 2025 in Malta, the average length of stay decreased slightly to 4.3 nights, while in Gozo and Comino the average length of stay remained at par with last year at 2.7 nights.