In April 2006, the number of cruise passengers arriving in Malta went up by 14,524 cruise passengers over the corresponding month a year ago, to a total of 37,182, the National Statistics Office reported yesterday.

When compared to April last year, the major increases in cruise passengers came from the German, the Spanish and the American markets, each by 8,294, 4,304 and 1,291 respectively.

On the other hand, cruise passengers arriving from Italy decreased by 556 to 694 from 1,250 in the corresponding month a year earlier.

During the first four months of the year, the number of cruise passengers that visited Malta went up by 47.9 per cent, to 56,681, an increase of 18,348 same-day visitors over the corresponding period in 2005.

The major markets for cruise passengers were the German (19,375), the Italian (10,020), the Spanish (7,665), and the American (4,749).

During the period under review, the amount of male cruise passengers exceeded that of female ones, the former accounting for 51.4 per cent of the total.

The greatest proportion of cruise passengers – 34.0 per cent – were aged 40-59 years, followed by passengers aged 60-79 and 20-39 years, at 33.3 and 17.0 per cent respectively.