​Cruise Passengers: Q4/2019

21 January 2020 | 1100 hrs | 008/2020

Total cruise passenger traffic during the fourth quarter of 2019 amounted to 166,859, a decrease of 12.7 per cent over the corresponding period in 2018.

Cruise Passengers: Q4/2019

There were 86 cruise liner calls during the fourth quarter of 2019, nine less than the same period in 2018. At 89.5 per cent, transit passengers accounted for the absolute majority of total traffic, reaching 149,283. A total of 151 passengers were onboard cruise liners berthing in Gozo, while 5,781 passengers spent at least one night on board their berthed cruise liner. On average, every cruise liner that berthed in Malta carried 1,940 passengers, 73 less than the previous year.

Passengers from EU Member States amounted to 97,940, the major nationalities being German, Italian, British and French. The total number of passengers from Non-EU countries stood at 68,919, of whom 42.3 per cent came from the United States.

On a gender basis, female passengers amounted to 90,614 or 54.3 per cent of the total. The largest share of passengers fell within the 60-79 age bracket, totalling 76,368, followed by those aged between 40 and 59 years (Table1).

January-December 2019

Total cruise passengers for 2019 stood at 765,696, an increase of 21.0 per cent over 2018. Of these,

64.2 per cent came from EU Member States. The most signifi cant increases were recorded in the German, American and British markets.

The majority of the passengers were females amounting to 413,908 or 54.1% of the total. Most passengers were between 60 and 79 years old, totalling 298,009. These were followed by passengers aged 40-59 years, reaching 243,384.

There were 359 cruise liner calls in 2019, with an average 2,133 passengers per vessel, compared to 310 calls and an average 2,041 passengers per vessel in the comparitive period of 2018 (Table 2) 

Chart 1. Total cruise passenger traffic

thousand passengers

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100

80

60

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J F M A M J J A S O N D	J F M A M J J A S O N D	J F M A M J J A S O N D
Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4
		2017				2018				2019
						year

Compiled by: Tourism and Education Statistics Unit	1
Contact us: National Statistics Office, Lascaris, Valletta VLT 2000
T. [phone], E. [e-mail]
https://twitter.com/NSOMALTA/		https://www.facebook.com/nsomalta/

Table 1. Cruise passengers: Quarterly 2017-2019

		October-December		Change
	2017	2018	2019	2019/2018
Total traffic1:	187,280	191,192	166,859	-24,333
Transit	172,601	180,174	149,283	-30,891
Landed	14,679	11,018	17,576	6,558
of which:
Passengers on cruise liners berthed in Gozo	2,858	1,641	151	-1,490
Passengers staying overnight	11,769	8,613	5,781	-2,832
Nationality:
EU	126,013	127,243	97,940	-29,303
of which:
French	19,859	15,705	10,187	-5,518
German	28,937	29,859	26,418	-3,441
Italian	33,551	35,684	22,649	-13,035
Maltese	1,801	1,870	1,565	-305
Spanish	8,634	9,969	7,383	-2,586
British	19,811	21,605	20,195	-1,410
Non-EU	61,267	63,949	68,919	4,970
of which:
Australian	3,955	6,134	4,711	-1,423
Canadian	6,893	7,828	8,362	534
Japanese	2,586	2,126	2,889	763
American	23,617	24,412	29,154	4,742
Sex:
Males	86,368	88,029	76,245	-11,784
Females	100,912	103,163	90,614	-12,549
Age group:
0-19	18,406	19,380	15,402	-3,978
20-39	24,277	24,130	20,642	-3,488
40-59	56,903	56,959	47,591	-9,368
60-79	80,583	83,241	76,368	-6,873
80+	7,111	7,482	6,856	-626
Cruise liner calls	94	95	86	-9
1 See methodological note 3

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Table 2. Cruise passengers: Annual 2017-2019

		January-December		Change
	2017	2018	2019	2019/2018
Total traffic1:	670,135	632,739	765,696	132,957
Transit	566,475	554,201	629,276	75,075
Landed	103,660	78,538	136,420	57,882
of which:
Passengers on cruise liners berthed in Gozo	14,503	12,950	8,160	-4,790
Passengers staying overnight	40,759	35,229	18,649	-16,580
Nationality:
EU	473,887	423,134	491,599	68,465
of which:
French	58,018	50,311	41,209	-9,102
German	115,358	96,719	141,564	44,845
Italian	99,927	88,579	86,702	-1,877
Maltese	11,932	9,363	11,697	2,334
Spanish	28,822	29,523	38,672	9,149
British	113,387	105,978	123,088	17,110
Non-EU	196,248	209,605	274,097	64,492
of which:
Australian	16,933	23,948	25,526	1,578
Canadian	20,870	21,427	29,695	8,268
Japanese	7,064	8,135	9,581	1,446
American	72,612	77,821	115,658	37,837
Sex:
Males	313,333	294,643	351,788	57,145
Females	356,802	338,096	413,908	75,812
Age group:
0-19	82,977	75,414	94,487	19,073
20-39	93,645	83,166	103,403	20,237
40-59	216,487	199,803	243,384	43,581
60-79	254,242	252,071	298,009	45,938
80+	22,784	22,285	26,413	4,128
Cruise liner calls	342	310	359	49
1 See methodological note 3

3

Methodological Notes

1. The data in this release is compiled on the basis of administrative records supplied by Transport Malta.
2. Cruise liners calling at both Malta and Gozo during a single voyage are recorded as one cruise liner call.
3. The majority of passengers embarking on cruise liners from Malta generally end their trip at the same destination. Embarkations are therefore not included in total traffic figures, in order to avoid double counting. This measure was adopted as from News Release no. 079/2013, dated 23 April 2013. The referred news release also includes figures for 2011 and 2012.
   For clarity, embarkation figures for the period under review are being provided:

Embarkations	2017	2018	2019
October-December	14,853	10,539	17,131
January-December	107,359	77,240	134,691

1. Figures for 'passengers staying overnight' with reference to Q3/2018 have been revised slightly upwards.
2. Definitions:
3. • Cruise passenger traffic: comprises transit passengers and passengers who land in Malta.
   • Embarkations: comprise all cruise passengers who are either Maltese or who are foreigners who arrive in Malta by other means of transport.
   • Transit passengers: comprise all cruise passengers who arrive in and leave Malta on the same cruise ship.
   • Landed passengers: comprise all cruise passengers who arrive in Malta on a cruise ship and leave by other means of transport, or alternatively, stay in Malta.
   • Passengers staying overnight: comprise passengers who spend at least one night in the Maltese Islands, either onboard the cruise ship or on land.
   • Average number of passengers per vessel: computed by dividing total cruise passenger traffic by the number of cruise liner calls.
4. More information relating to this news release may be accessed at: Statistical Concepts:http://nso.gov.mt/metadata/concepts.aspx
5. Any quotations from this news release are to be cited and/or referenced accordingly.
6. A detailed news release calendar is available on:https://nso.gov.mt/en/News_Releases/Release_Calendar/Pages/News-Release-Calendar.aspx

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