In August 2008, cruise passenger traffic in Malta comprised 76,646 persons, a decrease of 4.4 per cent over the comparative month in 2007 while over the period to date, an increase of 14.4 per cent was recorded.

August 2008 – Total cruise passenger traffic amounted to 76,646, a decrease of 3,530 passengers over the same month in 2007. Embarkations from and landings in Malta in this month stood at 2,435 and 2,383 persons respectively.

January-August 2008 – Total cruise passenger traffic in Malta amounted to 346,750, an increase of 14.4 per cent over the same period last year. Same-day visitors from EU countries accounted for 79.1 per cent of total traffic, the main markets being Spain, Italy and Germany. On the other hand, the American market remained substantial, representing 60.6 per cent of the non- EU incoming passengers. The overall growth in cruise passenger traffic was underpinned by increases in the American, British and Spanish markets. At the same time, the cruise passenger scene was characterised by falls in the German and Italian markets, respectively by 6,725 and 4,384 passengers.

On a gender basis, male passengers slightly exceeded female ones. The largest proportion of passengers – 33.8 per cent – comprised persons aged between 40 and 59 years, followed by those in the 60-79 age bracket who accounted for 26.3 per cent of the total.

There were 45 cruise liner calls in August, bringing the total for the first eight months of the year to 242 compared to 208 in the corresponding period last year.

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