Further growth in cruise line traffic

Cruise passenger traffic rose 22.8 per cent last month over the same month last year, amounting to 71,534, the National Statistics Office said yesterday.

Total cruise passenger traffic from January to July reached 270,104, a rise of 21.1 per cent over the same period in 2007.

Same-day visitors from EU countries accounted for 78.2 per cent of total traffic, the main markets being Italy, Spain and Germany.

The American market remained substantial, representing 61.4 per cent of the non-EU incoming passengers.

The overall growth was underpinned by increases in the American, British and Spanish markets. At the same time, the sector experienced dips in the German and French markets by 8,253 and 1,987 passengers respectively.

There were 42 cruise liner calls last month, bringing the total for the first seven months of the year to 197 compared to 167 in the same period last year.