Nine cruise ships carrying 7,966 passengers had called in Malta in the first quarter of 2021. This was reported in a press release by Malta’s National Statistics Office.

According to the press release, there were also nine cruise liners calling in the same period over 2020; however, this year, every ship on average carried 3,579 fewer passengers than in 2020.

EU nationals comprised the largest share of total cruise passengers during the period under review, at 94.7 percent. The major market was Italy with 5,854 passengers, accounting for 73.5 percent of the total passengers. The total number of cruise passengers from non-EU countries during the quarter under review stood at 421, of whom 14.3 percent were United States nationals, the statistics office reported.

Overall, EU and non-EU passengers decreased by 64.9 percent and 97.7 percent respectively, when compared to the same period in 2020.

The largest share of passengers, or 37.7 percent, fell within the 40 to 59 age bracket, followed by the 20 to 39 category, at 28.6 percent.