Cruise passengers increase by 20,480

A total of 25,533 passengers came to Malta aboard 10 cruise liners last March, an increase of 20,480 passengers from March last year, when only three ships had called, the NSO said today.

Passengers from EU countries made up for 78.9 per cent of the total traffic last month.

The Italian market ranked the highest, and was closely followed by the German.

January-March 2010

Total cruise passenger traffic for the first quarter amounted to 45,964, an increase of 44.5 per cent over the comparative period last year.

Visitors from EU countries accounted for 72.6 per cent of total traffic. Cruise passengers coming from Germany, Italy and France registered an increase whereas drops were recorded in the British and Spanish markets.

On a gender basis, female passengers, accounted for 52.2 per cent of the total traffic .

The largest proportion of passengers - 47.0 per cent - comprised persons aged between 60 and 79, followed by those in the 40 to 59 age bracket, who accounted for 29.3 per cent of the total.