Cruise passengers arriving from the German market rose by 587 to 839 from 252 in March last year. Other increases in arrivals were recorded from, among others, the Austrian (+332), the French (+371) and a number of other markets.

In the month under review, falls in the number of arrivals were recorded from the Italian (-263), the Spanish (-2,316), the Swiss (-339) and the British

(-333) markets.

In the first three months of this year, the number of cruise passengers visiting the Maltese Islands fell by 4,425 over the same period last year, amounting to 2,753. In the period under review, the highest number of cruise passengers were those from the German market (1,186) followed by the French (444) and the Austrian (375) markets.

The greatest proportion of cruise passengers, 51 per cent, were aged between 20 and 49, followed by passengers aged 50-79 (43 per cent) and 80+ (four per cent) respectively. The majority of cruise passengers were females (56 per cent).