The publication of the statistics provoked a Malta Labour Party statement that said the government had to draw up a serious plan to revitalise the Maltese tourism industry.
In a statement, the Opposition spokesman for tourism Evarist Bartolo said the government was duty bound to do something about the situation. He said it could not continue blaming the problems being faced by the international tourism industry.
Cruise passengers arriving from the Italian market rose by 1,574 to 3,393 from 1,819 in July last year. Other increases in arrivals were recorded from, among others, the Austrian (+430), the French (+210), the Swiss (+290) and the Maltese (+98) markets.
In the month under review, a fall in arrivals was recorded from the Spanish
(-3,473), the British (-9,917), the US
(-2,374), the German (-1,487) and a group of “other” (-1,695) markets.
In the first seven months this year, the number of cruise passengers that visited the Maltese islands went down by 66,003 over the same period last year, amounting to 114,136.
In the period under review, the highest number of cruise passengers came from the British market (25,190) followed by those from Spain (19,342) and the USA (15,712).
The greatest proportion of cruise passengers, 51 per cent, was aged between 50 and 79, followed by passengers aged between 20 and 49 (35 per cent) and those aged 19 years and under (11 per cent).
The majority of cruise passengers were women, accounting for 52.8 per cent of passengers.
In his statement, Mr Bartolo said this year 66,000 fewer tourists had arrived in Malta by sea, which is 37 per cent less than the number who came to Malta last year. Last year 180,000 people came to Malta on the various cruise liners that stopped over in Malta.
By the end of this year, about 14 million people will have gone on a cruise for their holiday. Half of them, he said, will have sailed in the Mediterranean Sea, especially to ports in Italy, Spain, France and Tunisia.
Mr Bartolo said the government knew that this industry would be adversely affected by EU membership because EU regulations do not allow cruise liner passengers to purchase duty free items.
Alternattiva Demokratika also expressed its concern about the substantial fall in the number of cruise passengers.
AD’s tourism spokesman Edward Fenech said: “Until a year ago, cruise liner business was a growing niche tourist market, which is important for Malta.
“In order to attract more of this type of tourism, Malta needs to project itself
as cultural and historical destination. Unfortunately, because of lack of investment by government in our tourism product, and continual environment disregard, Malta’s image is still tied to that of a sun-and-sea destination.
“The restoration of Pinto stores has been an important accomplishment which will make the area more attractive for tourists and cruise ship operators in the future. We predict that the area will become a hub for entertainment and cultural events.
“Unfortunately, not enough care was taken to keep the area clean and attractive while the work was going on. For the past few months, the area has been transformed into a huge construction site, with mounds of debris and partly enclosed with chicken wire.
“It is a positive thing that the monopoly of taxi drivers in this area has finally been challenged by the authorities. It is important that tourists are allowed to make a free choice between cheap public transport, taxis and other private means of transport”, Mr Fenech said.