Malta Cruises To New Tourist Record

In a year when the recession started to hit the travel industry

, Malta has produced a sizzling set of figures from her cruise ship arrivals for 2008. Another record, and for the first time breaking through the 500,000 cruise ship passenger arivals figure.

And the tourist numbers are so encouraging that the Malta authorities are to launch a new marketing campaign to encourage even further the cruise industry to use the Mediterranean island.

At the moment Malta is one of the top Mediterranean cruise stopovers, with most passengers spending a day or half day in Malta, and because of the lack of time only seeing the capital Valletta or the historical city of Mdina on an organised tour, and missing ninety per cent of what Malta has to offer visitors.

But now Malta wants to go a step further, and instead of being just another - albeit an historic and important - stopover, she wants to be the most likely island in the Mediterranean where cruisegoers would start their trip.

And what would be the benefits?

For a start cruise passengers would be flying to Malta instead of another start point, quite possibly using a Malta airline, and often staying in a Malta hotel for the night before boarding ship.

Malta estimates that the cruise ship industry brings some 40 million Euros into the Malta economy each year, and for an island with a population of 300,000 it's an important contribution to the Malta economy. The number of jobs in the Malta docks is significant, and the success of attracting cruise line passengers is a very welcome success for the dockers given the current economic uncertainty.

Overall the Malta tourist industry could be taking quite a hit in 2009 with mainland Europe and the United Kingdom being in recession, and less people taking holidays abroad, and despite low cost flights to Malta visitor numbers will probably be down in 2009 - but with Malta hoping to boost visitor numbers via the cruise ships the island could do better than other island holiday destinations.

If cruise passengers do opt to spend a little time on Malta, they will likely find it an enriching experience. Malta is also very rich in history, with some artefacts pre-dating Egypt's pyramids. History buffs will enjoy the variety of treasures and artifacts on display in Malta's museums. Many of Malta's historic churches still stand and are used for worship today.

For the tourist wanting a more modern look at the island, they will find Portomaso well worth a visit - Portomaso is a 31 acre waterfront development with upmarket housing, clubs and exciting activities. The primary goal of the developers of Portomaso was to become one of the most prestigious locations in Malta.

There's a lot to see and do in Malta, and hopefully cruise passengers will have a little extra time for Malta.

by: Henry Ashworth

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