Cruise passenger traffic in May accounted for 51,746 persons, an increase of 20.2 per cent over the same month in 2006, the National Statistics Office reported yesterday.

The increase was of 8,713 passengers. Embarkations from and landings in Malta during the month stood at 845 and 829 persons respectively. During the first five months of 2007, total cruise passenger traffic amounted to 109,412, showing an increase of 9.7 per cent over the same period last year.

Same-day visitors from EU countries accounted for 86.4 per cent of total traffic, the main markets being Germany, Italy and France.

The growth was underpinned by increases from the Italian and British markets. Meanwhile, visits by American and German passengers registered decreases.

On a gender basis, total traffic was almost on a par. The largest proportion of passengers – 36.4 per cent – comprised persons aged between 60 and 79 years, followed by those in the 40-59 age bracket, who accounted for 32.5 per cent of the total. In May, cruise liner calls increased by two when compared to the same month in 2006, bringing the total for the first five months of the year to 95 compared to 106 in the same period of 2006.