Cruise passenger traffic in the third quarter dropped by 22.9 per cent to 171,279, the National Statistics Office said.

It said there were 101 cruise liner calls throughout the quarter, 12 less than the 113 recorded last year.

Transit passengers accounted for the vast majority of total traffic, reaching 144,148 or 84.2 per cent. Of these, 993 visited Gozo and 1,739 spent at least one night on board their berthed cruise liner.

Visitors from EU states accounted for 75.6 per cent of total traffic, with the majority originating from the British, German or Italian markets. The number of passengers from non-EU countries stood at 41,750, of whom 43.5 per cent were US nationals. An increase in the British, Japanese, Australian and American markets was recorded.

The NSO said that the number of cruise passengers during the first nine months dropped by 27.9 per cent when compared to the corresponding period last year.

During this period there were 194 cruise liner calls, with an average 1,601 passengers per vessel. The average number of passengers per vessel also went down by 208 when compared to last year.

Meanwhile, Tourism Minister Karmenu Vella was upbeat when interviewed on television this morning, saying he had been informed that cruise company Costa would retain current services next year, while Mein Scheiff would add a third, brand new cruise liner from June 29.