6.9% decrease in cruise passenger traffic in November over 2009
In November, total cruise passenger traffic amounted to 48,581, down by 6.9 per cent compared to the corresponding month in 2009. On average there where 1,567 passengers per vessel.
Throughout November, cruise passengers in transit amounted to 96.5 per cent of the total, whereas passengers embarking from Malta totalled 832. Most of the passengers were in the 60-79 age bracket and stood at 21,883. These were followed by the 40-59 age group, which represented 29.2 per cent of the total. Female passengers outnumbered males and totalled 25,551, or 52.6 per cent.
The majority of cruise passengers (37,215) came from EU Member States, mainly from Italy and Germany, whereas those from Non-EU countries numbered 11,366. Non-EU markets registered a drop of 35.5 per cent, mainly brought about by a decrease in the American market.
The number of Maltese cruise passengers nearly halved when compared to November 2009 and stood at 703.
Between January-November 2010, total cruise passengers stood at 467,142, up by 11.3 per cent when compared to 2009. This upward move may be attributed to a rise in visitors from EU countries, especially from Italy and France, with increases of 38.1 per cent and 62.6 per cent respectively. Non-EU passengers dropped by 15,223 over the previous year and amounted to 93,757. There were 263 cruise liner calls during the period under review, with an average of 1,776 passengers per vessel.
Most passengers were between 40 and 59 years old, and stood at 151,708. These were followed by the 60-79 age group, which numbered 146,902. On a gender basis, male passengers were less than females and stood at 227,704.
