Steep rise in May cruise passenger traffic

The number of cruise passengers arriving in Malta last month climbed by 44 percent over May last year to reach 74,564 persons, figures issued this morning show.

Embarkations from and landings in Malta stood at 1,417 and 1,428 persons respectively.

Total cruise passenger traffic in Malta between January and May amounted to 131,311, an increase of 20.0 percent over the same period last year, the NSO said.

Same-day visitors from EU countries accounted for 81.3 percent of total traffic, the main markets being Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom.

On a gender basis, male passengers exceeded female ones by 2.7 percent. The largest proportion of passengers - 37.3 per cent - comprised persons aged between 60 and 79 years old, followed by those in the 40-59 age bracket who accounted for 29.2 percent.

There were 52 cruise liner calls in May, bringing the total for the first five months of 2008 to 105.