The number of cruise passengers in December dropped sharply by 35 per cent over the corresponding month of 2010 despite 2011 being a record year.

The number of cruise passengers last year reached an all-time high of 556,564, up 13.3 per cent over the previous year. The year also saw an increase of 36 ships calling at Malta.

The majority of passengers were in transit and the largest share of visitors came from the EU.

These figures come as the tragedy hitting the Costa Concordia, which ran aground close to the Italian island of Giglio last Friday, continues to unfold.

Germany stood out as the main market for the year with 151,398 passengers. Italy followed with 110,076 passengers.

French visitors were down by 32.8 per cent in terms of visitors. In sharp contrast, the number of German passengers rose by 98.5 per cent.

An increase was also registered in non-EU cruise passengers, a figure which went up by 15.8 per cent over the previous year.

In the last month of the year, the number of passengers on cruise liners dropped by 34.6 per cent.

The number of visitors from the EU decreased by 15.9 per cent. Almost all European markets recorded drops in December with the exception of Italy and France.

The number of non-EU passengers also registered a substantial drop of 59.6 per cent when compared to the corresponding month in 2010. The US retained the largest share of non-EU passengers despite a drop of 84.4 per cent when compared to 2010.

Valletta Cruise Port CEO John Portelli said the drop in cruise passenger movement was caused by two cancellations in December.

He added that, for the first time, the P&O Adonia cruise ship remained in the Grand Harbour for New Year’s Eve.