Clarification to article published online on the Times on Wednesday 30th August 2017 entitled “Hotels do not reap full benefit from tourist surge”.
Reference is made to the
article entitled “Hotels do not reap full benefit from tourist surge” published
by the Times of Malta on Saturday 18th March 2017 (link: https://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20170830/local/hotels-do-not-reap-full-benefit-from-tourist-surge.656829?utm_source=tom&utm_campaign=top5&utm_medium=widget).
The conclusion made in this
article, is based on comparisons between two different statistical products
produced by NSO on Collective Accommodation Establishments (supply-side) and
Inbound tourism (demand-side). The National Statistics Office (NSO) would
like to point out that these two figures are not strictly comparable due to
important methodological differences, as explained below:
i. The increase in inbound tourists of 19.4%
in June 2017, which was published in the Inbound Tourism news release No.
125/2017, includes only inbound tourists (i.e. foreign residents visiting
Malta). On the other hand, the increase of 12.8% in the Collective
Accommodation Establishments news release for the same reference month, relates
to both foreign and domestic (resident) guests in collective
accommodation establishments.
ii. Moreover, the Inbound Tourism news
release (19.4%) covers inbound tourists staying in both collective and private (incl. rented)
accommodation, while the Collective Accommodation Establishments news release
(12.8%) covers guests staying only in collective accommodation.
Etienne Caruana
Director, NSO
Social and Regional Statistics.