Cruising into malta

In February 2009, cruise passenger traffic in Malta comprised 14,180 persons, an increase of 11,716 passengers over the corresponding month in 2007, according to new data published by the National Statistics Office...

Embarkations from and landings in Malta stood at seven and 36 persons respectively. Total cruise passenger traffic in Malta amounted to 26,760, with the absolute majority being passengers in transit.

Passengers from EU countries accounted for 60.4 per cent of total traffic, the main markets being Germany, the United Kingdom, Spain and Italy. On the other hand, the American market remained substantial, representing 63.9 per cent of non-EU incoming passengers.

On a gender basis, Male passengers exceeded female ones by 6.2 per cent. The largest proportion of passengers - 48.2 per cent - comprised persons aged between 60 and 79, followed by those in the 40 to 59 age bracket who accounted for 29.2 per cent of the total.

The average number of passengers per cruise liner, which is defined as the number of cruise passengers divided by the number of cruise liner calls, decreased to 2,026 passengers per vessel for February.

There were seven cruise liner calls in February, bringing the total for year 2009 to 12 compared to two calls last year.

Source: www.maltamedia.com