Cruise passenger traffic in Valletta harbour declined by 12.7% during the fourth quarter of 2019 compared to the same quarter in 2018, official figures issued on Tuesday show. However, whole-year figures showed an increase of 21% in passenger arrivals over 2018. 

The National Statistics Office said 166,859 cruise passenger tourists came to Malta in the last three months of last year.

There were 86 cruise liner calls during the fourth quarter of 2019, nine less than the same period in 2018. At 89.5 per cent, transit passengers accounted for the absolute majority of total traffic, reaching 149,283.

On average, every cruise liner that berthed in Malta carried 1,940 passengers, 73 less than the previous year. Passengers from EU Member States amounted to 97,940, the major nationalities being German, Italian, British and French. The total number of passengers from Non-EU countries stood at 68,919, of whom 42.3 per cent came from the United States.

On a gender basis, female passengers amounted to 90,614 or 54.3 per cent of the total. The largest share of passengers fell within the 60-79 age bracket, totalling 76,368, followed by those aged between 40 and 59 years.

January-December 2019

Total cruise passengers for 2019 stood at 765,696, an increase of 21.0 per cent over 2018. Of these, 64.2 per cent came from EU Member States, the NSO said.

The most significant increases were recorded in the German, American and British markets.

The majority of the passengers were women amounting to 413,908 or 54.1% of the total. Most passengers were between 60 and 79 years old, totalling 298,009. These were followed by passengers aged 40-59 years, reaching 243,384.

There were 359 cruise liner calls in 2019, with an average 2,133 passengers per vessel, compared to 310 calls and an average 2,041 passengers per vessel in the comparitive period of 2018.