Cruise industry outlook is positive, driven by healthy booking trends, says Valletta Cruise Port CEO

Valletta Cruise Port CEO Stephen Xuereb has told MaltaCEOs.mt that the outlook for the cruise ship industry is positive, primarily driven by healthy booking trends.

His comments came after data from the National Statistics Office (NSO), released earlier this week, highlighted that Malta had 273,900 total cruise passengers in the second quarter of 2024 (Q2 2024), a rise of 21.6 per cent over the same period last year.

There were 128 cruise liner calls during Q2 2024, representing an increase of 30 when compared to Q2 2023. On average, every vessel that berthed in Malta carried 2,140 passengers, a decrease of 159 from the previous year.

Passengers from EU Member States made up 35.3 per cent of total passenger traffic, with the major market being Italy, which accounted for 10.3 per cent. This was followed by Germany with 8.6 per cent of total traffic. The total number of passengers from non-EU countries stood at 177,150, 39.1 per cent of whom came from the US, while 35.6 per cent came from the UK.

Speaking to MaltaCEOs.mt, Mr Xuereb, also Chief Operating Officer at Global Ports Holding, remarked that in Malta, activity levels and occupancy rates “have not only reached, but exceeded pre-pandemic levels across the cruise industry.”

He remarked that this has driven growth in the number of passengers that are being welcomed to Valletta Cruise Port.

“The outlook for the industry remains positive, driven by healthy booking trends and supported in the long-term by the industry’s robust cruise ship order-book,” Mr Xuereb added.

Earlier this year, he stated that the cruise industry has a “substantial impact” on Malta’s economy, including the services provided to both cruise liners and passengers, as well as flights to and from Malta. Tourism Minister Clayton Bartolo had noted that the cruise liner industry can serve as a catalyst for air travel as any passenger’s first experience in Malta can result in a longer stay in the future.

In his comments to this newsroom, Mr Xuereb also expressed his satisfaction regarding the recent launch of shore-to-ship technology at the Grand Harbour, enabling cruise liners to plug into Malta’s electric grid when docked. The project allows up to five cruise liners to be powered through the grid simultaneously.

“We are proud that Valletta’s Grand Harbour is one of the first ports in Europe, and the first Mediterranean cruise port, to adopt electrification for cruise ships on a port-wide scale,” he said.

He noted that this project, implemented by Infrastructure Malta and operated by Transport Malta, represents a “significant stride towards environmental sustainability.”

“The successful integration of shore power at Valletta Cruise Port stands as a testament to our commitment to eco-friendly initiatives as part of our environmental, social, and governance (ESG) journey,” he commented.

However, while the project will result in 90 per cent less pollution for around 17,000 people who live around the Grand Harbour, that significant reduction will only come into full effect in 2030, when an EU law requiring all cruise liners to utilise on-shore power is in force.

The shore-to-ship technology can provide 64 megavolt amperes of power, with frequences of 11 kilovolts or 5.5 kilovolts at 50 hertz or 60 hertz frequencies.