MTA UK office wins prestigious travel industry award
In a gala event held recently before a packed audience at London’s renowned Lyceum Theatre, the MTA London Office won the TTG Award for the Tourist Board of the Year. This award is regarded as the most prestigious one in the UK travel industry and is also billed as the most difficult award to win. The TTG Awards are an annual event held each year in London by Travel Trade Gazette, the UK’s leading trade weekly and oldest travel industry publication in the world.
Reaching the final is subject to a vote by thousands of UK travel agents, with the winner then selected by a judging panel of around 40 industry leaders. Malta won this prestigious award against fellow finalists, Queensland, Abu Dhabi and Barbados.
Malta was announced the winner for having developed very strong relationships with the UK travel industry and implementing an impressive marketing strategy to promote Malta as an ideal all-year-round short haul destination, to a diverse audience range.
MTA’s London Office was also one of the finalists in the inaugural LGBT-Friendly Travel Company of the Year category. MTA was the only Tourism Authority named amid other finalists including Virgin Holidays, Kuoni and Celebrity Cruises, the eventual winner.
MTA CEO Paul Bugeja remarked on the success achieved in such a short time since the London Office restructuring: “This is a wonderful testament to all the dedication and hard work of the new MTA team in London, as well as the excellent support we provide from the MTA Head Office and the Ministry for Tourism.” Mr Bugeja also thanked all those involved who helped in achieving this prestigious award.
Mr Bugeja explained that the MTA strives to maintain the importance of the United Kingdom as a major source market for the Maltese Islands. This can be seen from the performance in the first seven months of the year, with over 300,000 visitors arriving, which corresponds to an increase of 6.5 per cent over the same period last year.