Cruise passenger traffic during April reached 54,705, up by 22.2 per cent
over the same month last year.

The NSO said there were 34 cruise liner calls during the month with an
average 1,609 passengers per vessel.

The absolute majority of cruise passengers were in transit and amounted to 52,326, while the remaining were either embarking (1,258) or landing (1,121) in Malta. Most cruise passengers were 60-79 years old, followed closely by those in the 40-59 age bracket. These numbered 17,810 and 17,442 respectively.

On a gender basis, female passengers were in the majority and amounted to 27,976, or 51.1 per cent of the total.

The majority of cruise passengers came from EU Member States and stood at 42,591, an increase of 32.5 per cent when compared to 2011. Most European passengers came from Italy (10,957), France (10,519) and Germany (10,280).

Visitors from Non-EU countries stood at 12,114, down by 524 when compared with the previous year. All main Non-EU markets registered drops in the number of passengers, with the American market recording the highest decrease.

January-April 2012

The total number of cruise passengers in the first four months stood at 78,165, an increase of 14.3 per cent when compared to the corresponding period last year. Cruise passengers from EU countries made up 78.6 per cent of the total. Most of these came from Germany and Italy. Cruise passengers coming from Non-European countries amounted 16,726, down by 29.6 per cent over the corresponding period in 2011, primarily due to a decrease in
passengers from the United States.

Female passengers outnumbered males by 2,051 and amounted to 40,108 (51.3 per cent). During this period, 568 cruise passengers visited Gozo.
Between January and April there were 46 cruise liner calls, with an average 1,699 passengersper vessel.