By
Elizabeth Robinson |
Malta’s Valletta Cruise Port has welcomed its 700,000th cruise passenger.
The passenger, who arrived in the Port of Valletta onboard MSC Cruises’ MSC Meraviglia, was invited to return to Malta for a three-day break for two people, courtesy of the Malta Tourism Authority. Flights will be included and accommodation will provided at The Saint John hotel in the centre of Valletta.
“Today we have reached a new milestone in the number of cruise liner passenger arrivals,” said Konrad Mizzi, minister of tourism. “Government is committed to continue to work with the Valletta Cruise Port to ensure our offering is competitive and that our product continuously improves.”
The milestone comes as Valletta Cruise Port celebrates its 15th anniversary. “Together with local stakeholders we have worked relentlessly towards achieving this target and to ensure its sustainability in the future,” said Stephen Xuereb, CEO of Valletta Cruise Port and COO of Global Ports Holding.
Valletta Cruise Port expects to have welcomed a record 780,000 passengers from 340 cruise calls by the end of 2017. Numbers are likely to be similar in 2018, when Valletta will officially be named the European Capital of Culture and the cruise port will host the MedCruise General Assembly.