Cruise Passengers: Q4/2020

21 January 2021 | 1100 hrs | 010/2021

Total cruise passenger traffic during the fourth quarter of 2020 amounted to 11,825, a decrease of 92.9 per cent over the corresponding period in 2019.

Cruise Passengers: Q4/2020

There were 16 cruise liner calls during the fourth quarter of 2020, 70 less than the previous year. Transit passengers accounted for the absolute majority of total traffic, reaching 11,695. On average, every vessel that berthed in Malta carried 739 passengers, 1,201 less than the previous year.

Passengers from EU Member States amounted to 11,239, the major markets being Italy, Germany and France. The total number of passengers from Non-EU countries stood at 586.

On a gender basis, female passengers made up 51.2 per cent of the total. The largest share of passengers fell within the 40-59 age bracket and were followed by those aged between 20 and 39 years (Table1).

January-December 2020

Total cruise passengers for 2020 stood at 59,018, a decrease of 92.3 per cent over 2019. Of these, 67.0 per cent came from EU Member States.

The majority of the passengers were females amounting to 30,895 or 52.3 per cent of the total. Most passengers were between 40 and 59 years old, totalling 19,858. These were followed by passengers aged 60-79 years, reaching 13,617.

There were 32 cruise liner calls in 2020, with an average 1,844 passengers per vessel, compared to 359 calls and an average 2,133 passengers per vessel in the comparitive period of 2019 (Table 2) 

Chart 1. Total cruise passenger traffic

thousand passengers

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100

80

60

40

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J F M A M J J A S O N D	J F M A M J J A S O N D	J F M A M J J A S O N D
Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4
		2018			2019					2020
					period

Statistics in this News Release should be interpreted in the context of the COVID-19 situation.

Compiled by: Tourism and Education Statistics Unit	1
Contact us: National Statistics Office, Lascaris, Valletta VLT 2000
T. [phone], E. [e-mail]
https://twitter.com/NSOMALTA/		https://www.facebook.com/nsomalta/

Table 1. Cruise passengers by period and passenger characteristics: Quarterly 2018-2020

Characteristics		October-December			Change
2018	2019	2020		2020/2019
Total traffic1:	191,192	166,859	11,825		-155,034
Transit	180,174	149,283	11,695		-137,588
Landed	11,018	17,576	130		-17,446
of which:
Passengers on cruise liners berthed in Gozo	1,641	151	-		-151
Passengers staying overnight	8,613	5,781	53		-5,728
Country2 of Nationality
EU	127,243	97,940	11,239		-86,701
of which:
France	15,705	10,187	1,367		-8,820
Germany	29,859	26,418	1,518		-24,900
Italy	35,684	22,649	7,418		-15,231
Malta	1,870	1,565	8		-1,557
Spain	9,969	7,383	168		-7,215
United Kingdom	21,605	20,195	n/a	n/a
Non-EU	63,949	68,919	586
	-68,333
of which:
Australia	6,134	4,711	-		-4,711
Canada	7,828	8,362	-		-8,362
Japan	2,126	2,889	4		-2,885
United Kingdom	n/a	n/a	14		n/a
United States	24,412	29,154	17		-29,137
Sex:
Males	88,029	76,245	5,775		-70,470
Females	103,163	90,614	6,050		-84,564
Age group:
0-19	19,380	15,402	1,771		-13,631
20-39	24,130	20,642	3,386		-17,256
40-59	56,959	47,591	4,408		-43,183
60-79	83,241	76,368	2,112		-74,256
80+	7,482	6,856	148		-6,708
Cruise liner calls3	95	86	16		-70

• See methodological note 5.

• See methodological notes 3 and 4.

• Owing to the COVID-19 situation, the first cruise liner call was on 21 August 2020 since 10 March 2020. Note: n/a: not applicable

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Table 2. Cruise passengers by period and passenger characteristics: Cumulative 2018-2020

Characteristics		January-December		Change
2018	2019	2020	2020/2019
Total traffic1:	632,739	765,696	59,018	-706,678
Transit	554,201	629,276	58,827	-570,449
Landed	78,538	136,420	191	-136,229
of which:
Passengers visiting Gozo	12,950	8,160	-	-8,160
Passengers staying overnight	35,229	18,649	946	-17,703
Country2 of Nationality
EU	423,134	491,599	39,553	-452,046
of which:
France	50,311	41,209	6,301	-34,908
Germany	96,719	141,564	4,278	-137,286
Italy	88,579	86,702	22,131	-64,571
Malta	9,363	11,697	10	-11,687
Spain	29,523	38,672	2,529	-36,143
United Kingdom	105,978	123,088	n/a	n/a
Non-EU	209,605	274,097	19,465
-254,632
of which:
Australia	23,948	25,526	507	-25,019
Canada	21,427	29,695	444	-29,251
Japan	8,135	9,581	1,858	-7,723
United Kingdom	n/a	n/a	2,907	n/a
United States	77,821	115,658	2,814	-112,844
Sex:
Males	294,643	351,788	28,123	-323,665
Females	338,096	413,908	30,895	-383,013
Age group:
0-19	75,414	94,487	10,842	-83,645
20-39	83,166	103,403	13,245	-90,158
40-59	199,803	243,384	19,858	-223,526
60-79	252,071	298,009	13,617	-284,392
80+	22,285	26,413	1,456	-24,957
Cruise liner calls3	310	359	32	-327

• See methodological note 5.

• See methodological notes 3 and 4.

• Owing to the COVID-19 situation, the first cruise liner call was on 21 August 2020 since 10 March 2020 Note: n/a: not applicable

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Methodological Notes

1. The data in this release is compiled on the basis of administrative records supplied by Transport Malta.
2. Cruise liners calling at both Malta and Gozo during a single voyage are recorded as one cruise liner call.
3. Owing to the UK's exit from the European Union (with effect from 1st February 2020), UK data is statistically classified as Non-EU from January 2020 for all the tables. Requests for further clarification may be directed to the Tourism and Education Statistics Unit.
4. Due to the UK's re-classification following exit from the European Union on 1st February 2020, comparability of totals between same periods should be treated with caution.
5. The majority of passengers embarking on cruise liners from Malta generally end their trip at the same destination. Embarkations are therefore not included in total traffic figures, in order to avoid double counting. This measure was adopted as from News Release no. 079/2013, dated 23 April 2013. The referred news release also includes figures for 2011 and 2012.
   For clarity, embarkation figures for the period under review are being provided:

Embarkations	2018	2019	2020
October-December	10,539	17,131	58
January-December	77,240	134,691	165

1. Definitions:
2. • Cruise passenger traffic: comprises transit passengers and passengers who land in Malta.
   • Embarkations: comprise all cruise passengers who are either Maltese or who are foreigners who arrive in Malta by other means of transport.
   • Transit passengers: comprise all cruise passengers who arrive in and leave Malta on the same cruise ship.
   • Landed passengers: comprise all cruise passengers who arrive in Malta on a cruise ship and leave by other means of transport, or alternatively, stay in Malta.
   • Passengers staying overnight: comprise passengers who spend at least one night in the Maltese Islands, either onboard the cruise ship or on land.
   • Average number of passengers per vessel: computed by dividing total cruise passenger traffic by the number of cruise liner calls.
3. More information relating to this news release may be accessed at:https://metadata.nso.gov.mt/ConceptDetails.aspx?id=388
4. Any quotations from this news release are to be cited and/or referenced accordingly.
5. A detailed news release calendar is available on:
   https://nso.gov.mt/en/News_Releases/Release_Calendar/Pages/News-Release-Calendar.aspx

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