Cruise passenger traffic up by 9.4% in 2012

The National Statistics Office (NSO) said that the total cruise passenger traffic last year increased by 9.4% over 2011, and reached 608,786 passengers.

NSO added that cruise passenger traffic for December increased by 15.4% over 2011, to 18,156. An increase of 14.6% was noted in the number of transit passengers, while passenger embarkations and landings increased significantly over 2011. The majority of cruise passengers were between 60 and 79 years of age, and amounted to 44 per cent of total passengers.

Passengers below 19 years of age decreased by 39%, while there was an increase in passengers aged 80 and over.

The largest number of passengers came from EU countries and increased by 22.7% over December 2011. The Italian market dropped by 15.8%, while French passengers were down by 24.4%. On the other hand, the British market recorded a substantial increase. The majority of Non-EU passengers came from the United States and amounted to 1,309.

In 2102 cruise passengers amounted to 608,786, an increase of 9.4% over 2011. Of these, 13,436 spent one night on board vessels berthed in Grand Harbour. The vast majority of visitors (80%) came from EU Member States - 32% from Germany which was the largest market for 2012, followed by Italy, with a market share of 20% of EU nationals. The total number of passengers from Non-EU countries amounted to 120,469, of whom 32% came from the United States.

Male passengers amounted to 295,804 while females counted 312,982 . Passengers visiting Gozo totalled 3,546, substantially higher when compared to 2011. There were 322 cruise liner calls last year, with an average of 1,891 passengers per vessel.