Cruise liner passengers fall by 7% in third quarter of 2024, but cruise liner calls increase

The third quarter of 2024 saw a notable increase in the number of cruise liner calls, but the number of cruise passengers fell by 7.6% when compared to the same quarter in 2023.

Figures published by the National Statistics Office (NSO) revealed that transit passengers constituted the majority of arrivals, totaling 271,268 or 84.3% of the overall passenger count.

The data shows that travellers from within the EU made up 44.7% of the total, with Italy being the largest market at 17.4%, followed by Germany at 8.5%. Meanwhile, non-EU passengers accounted for 178,124 persons, with significant proportions coming from the United Kingdom (36.8%) and the United States (36.2%). 

The NSO figures show that the largest group of passengers were aged between 40 and 59 years old (32.7%), followed closely by those aged 60 to 79 (30.8%).

For the first three quarters of 2024, Malta welcomed a total of 672,276 cruise passengers. 

During this period, passengers from EU countries accounted for 42.9% of the total traffic, as statistics show that passengers aged between 60 and 79 were the largest group, comprising 35% of the total, followed by those aged 40 to 59 years, who made up 31%.

The NSO said that the number of cruise liner calls from January to September 2024 reached 271, an increase from 227 in the same period of 2023. However, the average number of passengers per vessel declined from 2,844 in 2023 to 2,481 in 2024.