In the first quarter of this year, cruise traffic to Malta was almost 72 thousand passengers, a number that represents an increase of +185.7% on the same period of 2022 when activity was recovering after the easing of Restrictions adopted at international level to contain the Covid-19 pandemic. In addition, the figure for the first three months of 2023 represents an increase of +803.7% on the first trimester of 2021 when the effects of the health emergency were even more accentuated, as well as an increase of +79.2% on the first trimester of 2020 when the first impact of the pandemic and a decrease of -7.8% on the first trimester of 2019 when the The crisis had not yet begun.

Of the total number of passengers in the first quarter of this year, those at disembarkation and embarkation in Valletta are states 69 thousand, up +179.2% on the corresponding period of 2022, and those in transit more than 3 thousand (+434.2%). With regard to the nationality of cruise passengers, the largest number of passengers was that of nationality Italian with a total of over 17 thousand people (+276.2%) followed by Germans with 13 thousand passengers (+86.6%).