The Minister for Tourism Edward Zammit Lewis remarked that during 2017 the fly-cruise programme will see over 100,000 passenger movements on 27 calls, with a further 10,000 passenger movements on five further calls visiting Malta as a port of call. Moreover, additional calls are planned for 2018.
‘It is primarily thanks to such initiatives that Malta’s cruise sector has been successfully evolving and growing from one which was exclusively a port-of-call, to one which now includes home-porting that benefits the Maltese tourism industry in various ways,' said the Minister for Tourism.
Dr Zammit Lewis also noted the new deployment will assist long-term sustainability of the various airline routes into Malta and the addition of hotel stay-overs.
According to latest published figures by Maltese authorities, Malta registered nearly 240,000 cruise passengers during the first half of this year, an increase of 6.2% on 2015. There were 125 port calls between January and June in the Grand Harbour, eight more than that recorded in the same months last year. Looking forward, according to projections Zammit Lewis is facing a record 700,000 cruise passengers this year, an increase of 4.4% over 2015.
‘These results reflect the concerted and co-ordinated drive by all stakeholders, including Valletta Cruise Port, Mifsud Brothers Ltd., the Malta Tourism Authority and the Malta International Airport, to develop our product and promote Malta’s increasing attractiveness and popularity as a leading cruise destination in the Central Mediterranean, in what is a highly competitive market,' added the Minister.
‘We are proud to be the homeport of choice for P&O Oceana throughout seasons 2017 and 2018, commented Stephen Xuereb, ceo of Valletta Cruise Port. 'Malta is a vibrant destination and this is reflected in the port of Valletta and all the ongoing activities around the Grand Harbour region and the capital city.'
Ivan Mifsud, md of Mifsud Brothers Ltd. (Malta Cruise Services) stated: ‘We are delighted that P&O’s “love affair” with Malta which started way back in 1837 when Peninsular Steam Navigation Co., which started as a mail service from London to Malta has now blossomed to a turnaround operation which will start next year to coincide nicely with the 180th Anniversary since P&O started calling in Malta.'
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