There was only one cruise liner call in February, with 3,853 passengers on board. As a result of the continuing drop in the number of cruise liner calls when compared to last year, total passengers decreased by 37.8 per cent, the absolute majority of which were in transit (3,852).

Among those visiting Malta during February, the majority fell within the 40-59 age group and amounted to 1,420. Furthermore, an increase of 639 passengers was noted in the number of passengers under 20 years of age.

On a gender basis, male passengers numbered 1,964, while females accounted for 49.0 per cent of the total.

The majority of passengers during February came from EU countries and stood at 3,204, an increase of 58.5 per cent when compared to last year. Most of the European passengers came from Germany and amounted to 1,010.

Cruise passengers from Non-EU countries dropped by 84.4 per cent over last year, primarily caused by a drastic change in the American market.

January-February 2012

The total number of cruise passengers for the first two months of the year stood at 16,704, up by 12.1 per cent when compared to 2011. 82.5 per cent – or 13,776 cruise passengers – were EU nationals, the majority of whom came from Italy and Germany. Non-EU cruise passengers amounted to 2,928, down by 64.4 per cent over the corresponding period last year.

Most cruise passengers were between 60 and 79 years old and totalled 5,948. These were followed by the 40-59 age group, which stood at 5,228. Female passengers outnumbered males by 290 and amounted to 8,497. There were six cruise liner calls during January and February, with an average of 2,784 passengers per vessel.

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