Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1494347
NEWS 7 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 8 MARCH 2023 TOTAL guests in collective ac- commodation establishments during the fourth quarter of 2022 stood at 468,466 while total nights spent amounted to 1,967,460. 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. The average length of stay in collective accommodation es- tablishments 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. On a national level, during December 2022, there were 251 active collective accommoda- tion establishments with a net capacity of 18,227 bedrooms and 41,809 bed-places. 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 respec- tively from 19,729 and 54,060 registered in 2021. 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 aver- age length of stay decreased by 0.2 of a night to 2.5 nights. The net occupancy rate in Malta increased by 9.6 per- centage points, reaching 50.8 per cent, and that in Gozo and Comino decreased by 3.0 per- centage points to 29.9 per cent. January-December 2022 Total guests for the year 2022 amounted to 1,812,834, an in- crease of 831,044 over the same period in 2021. Total nights spent increased by 3,593,362 reaching 8,204,068 nights. The net use of bed-places went up by 20.1 percentage points to 53.3 per cent. Guests in collective accommodation establishments during the fourth quarter of 2022 reach 468,466 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Prof. Aquilina, who lectures at the University of Malta's Fac- ulty of Laws, said the result of the court case in which a Mal- tese court said the controversial 2015 multi-million concession had been rendered null by fraud, should be resolved with a public inquiry to investigate the deal. Crucially, he said the board should be legally empowered to obtain full and unhindered access to all government documenta- tion, including Cabinet minutes and documents; and to establish penal sanctions for those persons who do not cooperate or engage in diversionary tactics with the inquiry. "Otherwise, it would be another report by a govern- ment-appointed board that will remain unimplemented. This has to be understood in the light of the fact that the current govern- ment can indeed boast of a robust reputation for sleeping upon re- ports submitted to it by its own appointed boards and commit- tees," Prof. Aquilina said, writing in The Malta Independent. "The Principal Permanent Sec- retary and Cabinet Secretary should be obliged, through law and subject to a criminal penal- ty for non-compliance, to pro- vide the inquiry board with all the information that is required of them and of all their officers. All court records in the Delia vs Prime Minister case are to be produced in evidence before the board, including the 24 February 2023 judgment itself." Prof. Aquilina added that all ministers, past and present, from the previous legislature and the current, should be required to give evidence in public before the board. "All those who refuse to do so, should they exercise their fundamental right not to incrimi- nate themselves, should be inves- tigated for any criminal responsi- bility on their part." Prof. Aquilina said the proposed law should even provide for a maximum six-month, non-re- newable periodi, in which the Commissioner of Police and At- torney General should complete their investigations and initiate prosecution on any hint of crim- inal liability. "Should this be not the case, they should publish a detailed report why this is no so, that ought to be discussed in the House in their presence and with their active questioning and par- ticipation. The excessively poor level of accountability in this country needs to be raised con- siderably as it leaves too much to be desired." He said the inquiry should in- vestigate advice given to govern- ment by the Attorney General's Office, the involvement of the Permanent Secretary in the Min- istry of Finance and other gov- ernment officers, and all mem- bers of all adjudicating boards involved in the Vitals/Steward saga, including Bank of Valletta. "Of course, there are sever- al persons who need to provide answers for this scandal and the faster the government acts to es- tablish such a Board of Inquiry to clean up government, the better. For now, it is Malta's reputation that is at stake. If our institutions function properly – which they clearly don't – then we would not have arrived at such national em- barrassment." Steward hospitals saga must go to board of inquiry, says professor of law Steward board of inquiry should have powers to obtain all Cabinet documentation and summon ministers and all actors involved in fraudulent hospitals PPP Prof Kevin Aquilina