Cruise passenger numbers fell last month when compared to July 2009, with arrivals dropping by 7.6 per cent, the operator of the cruise passenger terminal in Grand Harbour, Viset, said yesterday.
The company said 24 cruise liners berthed at the terminal, with a combined total of 48,731 passengers on board, a 4,009-passenger decrease.
It said it expected the “fall in passenger volumes” to continue this month and into the next because a particular cruise line was following a different itinerary to the one it followed previously.
However, on a positive note, passenger volumes are expected to increase by 10 per cent during the final three months of this year over the same period last year.
So far, this year has been a success with the number of passengers calling at the terminal between January and July increasing by 33.3 per cent over the figure registered during the same six months in 2009.