Cruise passengers for October dropped by 10 per cent when compared to the same period in 2011, though the figure for the year so far is up by 9.8 per cent according to the National Statistics Office.

October saw 68,500 cruise passengers – a drop of 11.1 per cent over the same month in 2011. At the same time, 49 cruise liner calls were recorded last month – 12 fewer than October last year.

The figures come on the back of record increases earlier in the year. In September alone, there was an increase of 17.7 per cent over the same month in 2011, while in the first 10 months of this year there was an increase of 9.8 per cent in passengers over last year.

The number of transit cruise liner passengers in October rose by 15 per cent compared with the same period in the previous year. In contrast there was a large decrease in passengers starting and ending their cruise in Malta. Cruise passengers aged between 60 and 79 made up the largest group (40.4 per cent), followed by passengers in the 40 to 59 age group (30.4 per cent).

The same data shows female passengers outnumbered men and stood at 35,748, or 52.2 per cent of the total. The majority of EU passengers came from Germany and Italy, while the highest increase was registered in the Spanish market. A sharp drop was noted in the German market.

The NSO said cruise and fly operations from Malta stopped earlier than they did last year and this had an effect on the German market. Most of the non-EU passengers came from the US (36.3 per cent) and Canada (10.2 per cent). The majority – or 80 per cent – came from the EU and visitors from outside the EU numbered 104,035 – slightly more than last year.

A total of 287 cruise liners, each carrying an average of 1,890 passengers, called at Malta during the past 10 months.