Not a day passes, it seems, that our Grand Harbour is not graced with the presence of two, three or even more cruise liners, some of which are veritable floating five-star hotels catering for thousands of passengers.

Valletta has become an increasingly popular port of call for cruise liners, and travelling leisurely on board one of these floating hotels has itself become a growth industry. The numbers of those taking a cruise are growing at a robust pace, and this particularly applies to the Mediterranean, which is among the top three regions for cruising, along with the Caribbean and the Baltic.

So it is good to know that the number of cruise liner passengers calling at Malta is rising in keeping with the growing trend, if not exceeding it. VISET, which manages the cruise and ferry operations in Grand Harbour, last week announced that this year the island was expecting 435,000 cruise passengers - a 10 per cent increase over 2006.

Although cruise passengers are not counted as tourist arrivals, since they do not stay here overnight, nor do they spend more than 24 hours, this industry is contributing handsomely to Malta's revenue from tourism.

According to estimates by the National Office of Statistics, last year cruise passengers landing in Malta spent more than Lm5.3 million. Each passenger ashore is estimated to have spent Lm14.20, while those joining an organised tour are thought to have spent Lm19.10 more, for a total of Lm33.30. This works out at an average of Lm14.20 per passenger calling in Malta, considering that around one-third of passengers prefer to remain aboard the ship.

Even though this is below the Lm21.45 (or €50) each passenger is estimated to spend at European ports of call, Malta is doing very well from the cruising industry, since it earned a total of €93 million from it, or 1.1 per cent of the total for Europe, placing it just after the top ten countries.

There is no doubt that the creation of the Valletta Waterfront, with its retail outlets, bars and restaurants, the building of the terminal, and the ongoing attractions in Grand Harbour, have made a call at Malta even more enjoyable. First impressions count - especially to passengers arriving by sea here for the first time. We can boast of one of the finest harbours in the world, and the magnificent fortifications lining it make it one of the most attractive in Europe, but we also face stiff competition from other ports of call in Europe.

It is therefore good to encourage additional attractions such as the Knights shows at the Powerhouse Theatre at the Waterfront, or the recently introduced dghajsa tours of Grand Harbour, complete with audio guides in six languages.

VISET is therefore losing no time in trying to attract more cruise operators to Malta and to encourage some of them to use the island as a hub or home port. The island is also ideal for "fly and cruise" holidays, with tourists from, say, Britain, flying here directly and after a few days embarking on a Mediterranean cruise ending here, and returning home by air from Malta. A direct air link with North America would be ideal in this regard.

Several major cruise operators have been using Malta for a number of years; last year Pullmantour returned after a four-year absence, and VISET was proud to announce, at an editors' briefing aboard the Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines' towering Voyager of the Seas last Wednesday, that next year the "six-star" Norwegian Cruse Lines will be making their first visits to the port of Valletta.

Incidentally, the ferry services to Sicily from Grand Harbour also experienced healthy growth in the first six months of this year, with the number of passengers going up by 27 per cent over last year.

Since last year, considerable improvement has been made in providing alternative forms of transport to Valletta for cruise passengers who do not join organised tours. The bus service, introduced last December, has proved to be popular and has carried over 50,000 passengers since then, though the siting of the bus stop could be improved. This has not meant a falling off in the use of taxis and karozzini. Their owners must have realised that charging reasonable fares can only increase their custom.

An unusual form of transport now available to cruise passengers is the seaplane to Gozo, but to maximise on its use VISET feels the Gozo trip could be offered as an additional air excursion.

With the prospects for passenger traffic in Grand Harbour looking bright for next year and the foreseeable future, there is no doubt that this is one growth industry which all of us should take proper care of and nurture.