Cruise liner passengers up 21% last year

The largest cruise liner passenger groups by nationality were Germans, British and Americans, figures out on Tuesday show

Cruise liner passengers increased by 21% last year, NSO figures show
Cruise liner passengers increased by 21% last year, NSO figures show

The number of cruise liner passengers who visited Malta in 2019 stood at 765,696, an increase of 21% over the previous year, according to the National Statistics Office.

64.2% of passengers came from EU member states. The figures show significant increases in travelers coming from Germany, the US and Britain.

The majority of passengers were female, amounting to 413,908, or 54.1%.

Most passengers were aged between 60 and 79 years, adding up to 289,009, followed by the 40-59 age bracket, totaling 243,384.

The Grand Harbour saw 359 cruise liner calls last year, with an average of 2,133 passengers per vessel. The number of ships increased over the previous year, with 310 vessels calling in Malta.

The largest number of passengers came from Germany at 141,564, up by 44,845 over the previous year.

The British came second at 123,088 passengers, up by 17,110 over 2018.

American passengers were the third largest nationality to visit Malta by cruise ship, registering a 37,837 increase over the previous year, at 115,658 passengers.

Passengers from non-EU countries totaled 274,097, while those from EU countries added up to 491,599.