German TUI Cruises will be expanding its operations in Malta next year by adding another cruise liner, The Times has learnt.
With the presence of both the Mein Schiff 1 and Mein Schiff 2 cruise liners, the company will return to its 2011 levels after decreasing the frequency of voyages departing from Malta this year.
Michael Abele, commercial director for Orange Travel Group, the exclusive selling agents of TUI Cruises in Malta, confirmed TUI Cruises were “definitely committed to enlarging their presence in Malta”.
TUI Cruises bring between 40,000 and 50,000 tourists to Malta.
The bulk spend some days exploring the island before departing on their one or two-week cruise from Malta to the east and west Mediterranean.
The Mein Schiff 1 began home porting in Malta in 2011 when it ran from May to November and called at the ports of Piraeus (Athens), Kusadasi (Turkey), Mykonos (Greece), Catania (Sicily), Civitavecchia (Rome), Livorno, Monte Carlo and Ajaccio (Corsica).
This year, the company cut the number of voyages from Malta and ran for a shorter period, compared to last year. This had a knock-on effect on the number of German tourists passing through Malta International Airport.
Compared to October 2011, last month’s figures saw a significant drop of 26.7 per cent in German passenger movements.
However, the German market remained strong between April to October, with a slight drop of just 0.4 per cent.
The airport is hoping to reach 3.6 million passenger movements this year, a three per cent increase over last year’s figures.
Mr Abele said TUI’s belief in Malta was witnessed by its decision to have a second cruise liner berthing at Grand Harbour.
There was a possibility that the company will send the Mein Schiff 3, a larger cruise liner, to Malta in 2014.
Despite the Costa Concordia incident last January, the cruise industry remained strong throughout summer.
Mr Abele confirmed that the company’s performance this year was “slightly better” than last year’s and cruises for 2013 were selling fast.