30 cruise liners calls in one month

According to data issued by the National Statistics Office (NSO) cruise liners visiting Malta carried an average of 2,608 passengers per vessel.  The number of passengers who were in transit numbered 59,048, up by 32.9 %, when compared to the same period last year.

Landings in Malta also advanced to 9,485, while embarkations increased to 9,707. “Increases in the number of passenger embarkation and landings were due to new cruise-and-fly packages launched this summer,” NSO said.

The largest proportion of passengers fell within the 40-59 age bracket, followed by the 0-19 age group. These numbered 29,455 and 20,335 respectively. On a gender basis, female and male passengers were almost equal.

Cruise passengers from EU Member States stood at 62,004, up by 39.6% when compared to the previous year. Most EU passengers were Germans (23,930) and Italians (15,029). The Non-EU market recorded an upward move of 8,614 cruise passengers and amounted to 16,236. This rise was brought about by a significant increase in the American market, which comprised 41.9% of total Non-EU passengers.

Total cruise passengers between January and July 2011 stood at 280,022, up by 9.4% over the corresponding period in 2010.  EU passengers numbered 213,115 (76.1%) of the total.

Increases in the number of cruise passengers were recorded in the German and British markets, which stood at 76,758 and 17,749 respectively.

On the other hand, there was a substantial drop (18.3%) in the Italian market.

Non-EU passengers amounted to 66,907, of whom 45.25% came from the United States.

The majority of cruise passengers were aged between 40 and 59 (97,250), followed by the 60-79 age group (78,214). Female passengers stood at 143,301, while males numbered 136,721. There were 143 cruise liner calls since the beginning of the year, up by eight over the corresponding period last year.