Total cruise passenger traffic during the third quarter dropped by 22.9 per cent to 171,279. There were 101 cruise liner calls throughout the quarter, in comparison with 113 recorded last year, the National Statistics Office said today.

Transit passengers accounted for the vast majority of total traffic, reaching 144,148 or 84.2 per cent. Of these, 993 passengers visited Gozo, which was up from 404 in the last quarter, whereas 1,739 passengers spent at least one night on board their berthed cruise liner.

Visitors from EU Member States accounted for 75.6 per cent of total traffic, with the majority originating from the British, German or Italian markets. On the other hand, the total number of passengers from Non-EU countries stood at 41,750, of whom 43.5 per cent were US nationals.

An increase in the British, Japanese, Australian and American markets was recorded, despite the decrease in total traffic.

At 91,040, female passengers made up 53.2 per cent of the total while, at 34.9 per cent, the largest share of passengers fell within the 40-59-year-old age bracket. These were followed by those aged between 60 and 79, with a share of 31.0 per cent.

The number of cruise passengers during the first nine months dropped by 27.9 per cent when compared to the corresponding period last year. Of these, 75.7 per cent came from EU Member States. The sharpest drops were recorded from the German and Italian markets, which fell by 41,072 and 30,578 passengers respectively.

Female passengers numbered 165,811 and were in the majority. Most of the cruise passengers were between 60 and 79 years old, amounting to 111,196. These were followed by passengers aged 40-59, totalling 103,626.

During the first nine months there were 194 cruise liner calls, with an average 1,601 passengers per vessel. The average number of passengers per vessel also went down by 208 when compared to last year.

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