Cruise passenger traffic during the second quarter of 2017 was down 8.6 per cent over the same period last year, official statistics show.

Total traffic amounted to 183,143, even though there were 115 cruise liner calls during the second quarter of 2017, seven more than last year, the National Statistics Office said.

At 78.6 per cent, transit passengers accounted for the absolute majority of total traffic, reaching 143,918.

A total of 4,179 passengers visited Gozo, while 14,517 passengers spent at least one night on board their berthed cruise liner. On average, every vessel that berthed in Malta carried 1,593 passengers, 263 less than last year.

Visitors from EU states comprised 74 per cent of total traffic, the major markets being the UK, Germany, Italy and France. The total number of passengers from non-EU countries stood at 47,580, of whom 39.4 per cent came from the US.

During the first half of the year, total cruise passengers stood at 268,358, a rise of 11.9 per cent over 2016. Of these, 72.1 per cent came from EU states. The biggest increase was recorded from the British market, which advanced by 26,081 passengers.

There were 149 cruise liner calls during the first six months, with an average 1,801 passengers per vessel, compared to 125 calls and an average 1,919 passengers per vessel in January-June 2016.