Cruise passenger traffic up 27% over May 2011

The number of cruise passengers who were in transit amounted to 59,155, an increase of 39.0 per cent when compared to May 2011. The remaining passengers were either embarking (8,071) or landing (8,177) in Malta.

There were 42 cruise liner calls, 9 more than last year.

Most cruise passengers were 60-79 years old and numbered 30,868, or 40.9 per cent of total cruise passengers. These were followed by those aged 40- 59 which totalled 25,569 (33.9 per cent). On a gender basis, female passengers amounted to 38,899 while males counted 36,504.

The majority of cruise passengers came from EU Member States and stood at 63,237, advancing by 24.5 per cent over 2011. Most European passengers came from Germany (26,391), Italy (10,694) and France (10,385). There were increases in nearly all major markets, except for Spain and Italy which declined marginally when compared to last year. Visitors from Non-EU countries increased by 47.4 per cent to 12,166 (Table 1).

January-May 2012

The number of cruise passengers registered during the period under review stood at 153,568 - an increase of 20.5 per cent when compared to the corresponding period last year. Cruise passengers from EU countries accounted for 81.2 per cent of the total and amounted to 124,676. A third of these passengers came from Germany while a fifth were Italians. Cruise passengers from Non-EU countries amounted to 28,892, down by 9.8 per cent over the corresponding period in 2011. Visitors from the United States dropped by 56.5 per cent to 5,854.

Female passengers were in the majority and amounted to 79,007, or 51.4 per cent of total. On the other hand, the largest share of cruise passengers were 60-79 years old and stood at 57,099. During this period, 765 cruise passengers visited Gozo. In all, there were 88 cruise liner calls with an average 1,745 passenger per vessel.