Over 1 million travelled to Gozo in fourth quarter 2013

A total of 1,021,615 commuters travelled between Malta and Gozo during the fourth quarter last year, up by 13.4 per cent when compared to the corresponding period in 2012. This is in part due to the Free Gozo Weekend scheme in November and the Live Crib Village at Għajnsielem in December. The highest number of commuters was recorded in October - 389,513, or 38.1 per cent of the total for the quarter.

The number of vehicles carried by scheduled vessels advanced by 15.5 per cent, totalling 287,872.

The number of trips in the period under review stood at 4,772, an increase of 3.5 per cent over the corresponding period in 2012. The majority of trips took place in November - 1,598 or 33.5 per cent of total trips for the quarter.

On an annual basis, 2013 saw increases in the number of vehicles, commuters and trips between Malta and Gozo. Overall, the number of trips went up by 115, or 0.6 per cent, over 2012 (Table 2). Commuters increased by 302,576, or 7.4 per cent, over the previous year, while the number of vehicles crossing between Malta and Gozo went up by 94,170, or 8.6 per cent.

As in previous years, August recorded the highest number of trips - 1,872, or 9.5 per cent of the total. August also registered the largest share of vehicles and commuters crossing between the two islands - 130,623 and 500,226 respectively.