Malta Tourism Authority Executive Chairman Mr Romwald Lungaro-Mifsud recently headed an MTA team that held a series of meetings with UK tour operators…
Malta Tourism Authority Executive Chairman Mr Romwald Lungaro-Mifsud recently headed an MTA team that held a series of meetings with UK tour operators to discuss various issues, including general market trends, the booking situation for Malta for Summer 2005 and cooperation between the Authority and the operators aimed at generating more sales.
The MTA team included the Authority`s Director for Marketing and Promotion Mr Jeffrey Cutajar, as well as the Director of the Authority`s London office Mr Michael Piscopo and UK Marketing Manger Ms Vicky Williams. During this `sales blitz`, the MTA officials met with representatives of a number of UK tour operators, including Holiday Malta, Sunspot, First Choice, My Travel, Chevron, TUI and Thomas Cook. Meetings were also held with Air Malta UK officials, as well as representatives of two top online travel companies who reported encouraging sales for Malta holidays.
Mr Lungaro-Mifsud said that the meetings were very productive and that the majority of the UK operators are optimistic that the situation will improve: The meetings were very well-received by the tour operators, especially since we showed that we were prepared to give them our full commitment and support, to regain Malta`s market share in the UK, particularly in the light of the increasingly stiff competition which exists today, he said.
The MTA Executive Chairman said that one of the clear messages which emerged during these meetings was that competitor destinations such as Turkey, Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco are gaining market share, in most cases because they are cheaper in price. `New` Eastern European destinations such as Croatia, Bulgaria, Romania, Montenegro and Slovenia have also come onto the scene very strongly, again competing primarily on price: However, the indications are that Malta may end up slightly ahead of last year`s figures as far as UK visitors are concerned, he said.
To underpin direct marketing initiatives which the MTA is implementing with tour operators in the UK, a booster campaign portraying Malta as a resort destination is being carried out. The MTA`s London office is supplementing its current press campaign with additional placements in a number of national daily and weekly newspapers. New adverts have also been developed for this phase of the campaign, emphasising Malta`s summertime product and attractions.
In the coming months, MTA Director for Marketing and Promotion Mr Jeffrey Cutajar will be conducting similar meetings in France, the Netherlands and Italy. Other sales meetings were also held recently in Germany and Ireland.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
