37% drop in cruise passenger traffic

Total cruise passenger traffic during the second quarter amounted to 116,763, a drop of 36.9% over the corresponding period last year, the Nationalist Statistics said today.

The decline in cruise passenger traffic was in part due to two cruise lines stopping their port calls to Malta. Transit passengers accounted for the vast majority of total traffic, or 100,953 visitors. Of these, 404 passengers visited Gozo, while 3,531 spent at least one night on board their berthed cruise liner.

On a gender basis, female passengers accounted for 53.8 per cent of the total. Most cruise passengers were between 60 and 79 years old, and were followed by those within the 40-59 age bracket.

Visitors from EU Member States accounted for 76.8 per cent of total traffic, with the major markets being Germany, the United Kingdom and Italy. The total number of passengers from Non-EU countries stood at 27,125. Just over 40 per cent of these passengers came from the United States.

During the first half of the year, total cruise passengers reached 139,411, a drop of 33.2 per cent when compared to 2012. Of these, 75.8 per cent came from EU Member States. Almost all EU markets registered sharp decreases when compared to the corresponding period last year, except for the Maltese and British markets, which increased by 14.0 and 13.4 per cent respectively. Passengers from Non-EU countries stood at 33,688, of whom 38.0 per cent were US nationals.

Most cruise passengers were aged between 60 and 79, and totalled 58,134. These were followed by passengers in the 40-59 age bracket, which stood at 43,814. Male passengers amounted to 64,640, while females counted 74,771.

There were 93 cruise liner calls during the first six months of the year, with an average of 1,499 passengers per vessel, compared to 125 calls and an average 1,669 passengers per vessel in the first half of 2012.