Cruise passenger traffic saw a terrific rise in February from just under 2,500 passengers in the same month last year to about 14,200, according to official statistics.

The jump, continuing the trend also seen in January, was reflected in the number of cruise liners which berthed - 12, as opposed to just two the previous February.

More than 26,000 cruise liner passengers have set foot in Malta so far this year.

As with January, around 60 per cent of tourists came from the EU last month, mainly from Germany, the UK, Spain and Italy, while more than half of the rest were American.

The figures are welcome news in the tourism sector which is bracing itself for a bumpy ride in 2009 as the global financial crisis eats into the pockets of potential tourists.

Parliamentary Secretary for Tourism Mario de Marco recently welcomed similar positive statistics suggesting that this niche could be Malta's lifeline as the industry gets hit by the crisis. He said experts are "cautiously optimistic" that it can continue to grow because of the value for money factor.

Malta Tourism Authority CEO Josef Formosa Gauci said: "One must, however, keep one's feet firmly on the ground and acknowledge the fact that the international economic slowdown may very well have an adverse effect on all spheres of tourism. The MTA, together with all stakeholders, are monitoring the situation very carefully in order to minimise these potential adverse effects."

Malta was described as the cruise destination of the year by José Campos, president of the Association of Mediterranean Cruise Ports Medcruise, while addressing executives attending the Seatrade Cruise Shipping convention in Miami last week.

The tourism authority took part in the convention trying to entice more cruise companies to include Malta on their Mediterranean itinerary and reported good one-to-one feedback.