Cruise passenger traffic in Malta last month was half that in June 2008, the NSO said today.

It said 33,636 people came to Malta on cruise ships, a decrease of 33,623 passengers over the corresponding month in 2008.

Embarkations from and landings in Malta stood at 992 and 948 persons respectively.

In the January-June period, total cruise passenger traffic in Malta amounted to 135,515, a decrease of 31.8 percent over the comparative period last year.

Passengers from EU countries accounted for 67.1 percent of total traffic, the main markets being Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom. Significant drops were registered in the Spanish and Italian markets.

On the other hand, cruise passengers coming from non-EU countries registered an increase of 6.4 percent, notably in the American market.

On a gender basis, female passengers exceeded male ones by 12.8 percent. The largest proportion of passengers - 39.1 percent - comprised persons aged between 60 and 79, followed by those in the 40 to 59 age bracket who accounted for 31.7 percent of the total.

Cruise terminal operator Viset said last month that the decline was caused by a change in schedules by major lines as they prepared to introduce, new, bigger ships into their fleets. Those changes have now been made and visitor numbers are set to increase.