Cruise passenger traffic up by 44.1% over August 2011

Cruise passengers in transit amounted to 77,801 and advanced by 49.1% when compared to the corresponding month last year.

Visitors embarking from or landing in Malta amounted to 10,640 and 10,621 respectively. Numbering 38,751, cruise passengers aged 40-59 comprised the largest proportion of cruise passengers.

These were followed by passengers aged under 20 years of age at 23,260. On a gender basis, female passengers outnumbered males by 2,070, or 4.3%.

The majority of cruise passengers came from EU Member States and totalled 85,189.

The German market remained the strongest, as in previous months, with 30,072 passengers, followed by the Italian market with 18,701 cruise passengers.

All major European markets showed rises in the number of passengers, with France, United Kingdom and Germany registering the highest increases.

Cruise passengers from Non-EU countries more than doubled when compared to the previous year, reaching 13,873 for the month under review. This was mainly brought about by a substantial increase of 3,228 passengers in the American market.

Between January and August 2012, the total cruise passengers for the period under review amounted to 393,610, up by 12.9% when compared to the previous year.

Cruise passengers from EU Member States amounted to 325,478, or 82.7% of the total. Most passengers came from Germany (116,658) and from Italy (66,560).

Visitors from Non-EU countries numbered 68,132 - a drop of 5,568 passengers when compared to last year. Male passengers amounted to 190,953, while female passengers comprised 51.5% of the total.

During the first eight months, 2,556 cruise passengers visited Gozo as well - 2,231 more than in 2011. In all, there were 193 cruise liner calls, each carrying an average of 2,039 passengers.