Cruising is proving to be a huge growth area for the travel industry and the pace looks set to continue this year with passenger figures for the first seven months rising by 20 per cent over the same period last year.
The Parliamentary Secretary for Tourism, Mario de Marco said it was envisaged that more than half a million cruise passengers will call on Grand Harbour by the end of this year. He was speaking on board the ms Noordam which yesterday paid her last visit to Malta this year.
"What's also of great significance is the mix of nationalities that cruise liners are bringing to Malta and it is interesting to note that a very high percentage of Americans - about 80 per cent - visit our shores thanks to Holland America Line," he said.
A total number of 21,000 ms Noordam passengers visited Malta during her 11 calls this year and another 3,695 are expected to visit while cruising on board another two Holland America liners in four visits next year.
The ms Prinsendam will call in Malta three times next year and her visit in November will also see her sailing to Gozo following a one-night stay in Grand Harbour.
The ms Rotterdam will be offering the same options to her passengers when she visits in October.
"Going to Gozo is our desire to add new and different ports of call to our cruise itineraries. We try to add new ports every year and, typically, it's with one or two stops a year," Erik Elvejord, director of Holland America Line's public relations office, said.
"If guests have a great time we often expand. If it doesn't go well... we try something else," he said.
Asked whether Holland America Line had any plans of using Malta as a gateway port of call, Mr Elvejord said: "The earliest that can happen is 2011 given our current planning cycle but I don't think it's likely. At the moment we are planning several calls to Malta each year and will continue to do so. Our planning at the moment is through 2010. I never say never because you don't know what the market will bring.
"And we always talk to ports and listen to what they can offer because we need to be aware of things when looking for gateways and ports of call," he said.