Cruise passengers coming to Malta last month declined by 4% compared to the same month last year, according to a four-line statement by Viset, the cruise terminal operator.

There were 8,713 cruise passenger movements in January this year, down 35

In terms of vessel calls, there was no change as four cruise vessels called at Grand Harbour during the first month of the year, the same as in January 2010.

The number of cruise passengers who visited Malta in the whole of last year was nearly 12% greater than in the previous year.

There were 490,701 passenger movements compared to 439,285 in 2009. Ship movements increased from 260 in 2009 to 279 in 2010.

In December, total passenger movements stood at 24,017 compared to 20,085 in December 2009, an increase of 19.5%.