Impressive results from the Polish market to Malta

Following the Malta Tourism Authority’s increased marketing efforts in the Polish market over the past years, the MTA is pleased to announce that arrivals from Poland continued with a positive upward trend once again this year with an increase of 12.3% from January to August when compared with the same period last year.

During 2017 the Maltese islands attracted 89,335 visitors, making the Polish market the fifth largest source market to the islands. This is also set to continue this year as it is envisaged that by the end of December over 100,000 Polish visitors would have visited our islands.

These extraordinary results are the culmination of years of consistent work by MTA in Poland, as well as increased connectivity between the Maltese Islands and various cities in Poland, including the capital Warsaw, Gdansk, Wroclaw, Poznan, Krakow and Katowice through Ryan Air, Air Malta and Wizz Air.

Supporting the increased connectivity, the MTA has been participating in a number of tourism events and travel fairs in Poland, with one of the most recent ones being a joint trade event organised in Warsaw in conjunction with EXIM Tours and supported by the Maltese Ambassador in Poland.

MTA’s senior manager, responsible for the Eastern European markets, Jimmy Attard participated in the event and held meetings with the trade, many of which have shown increased interest to grow their tourism programme to the Maltese Islands throughout 2019 and beyond.

Throughout this year, a number of marketing activities were carried out to ensure further exposure for the Maltese Islands. These included digital media campaigns, TV campaigns, joint marketing campaigns in conjunction with major tour operators, social media activity, familiarisation trips as well as numerous press visits.

Moreover, the MTA has recently appointed Travel Advance as the new representatives in Poland. Travel Advance will be tasked with developing new business to Malta and Gozo after winning an international tender.

MTA’s Executive chairman, Dr Gavin Gulia, said: “Poland has maintained its position as the fifth largest incoming market for visitors to the Maltese Islands and we will continue to strive to increase the number of arrivals.”

Dr Gulia continued by saying that there are many aspects of the Maltese Islands which attract the Polish visitors, with the most popular being city breaks, sun and fun holidays, our local culture and gastronomy as well as active holidays.

“However, there is still room for growth in the Polish market, particularly in the family, religious tourism and EFL segments and the MTA will continue its efforts to surpass the 100,000 mark by the end of this year.”

He concluded by saying that indications for 2019 are positive, based on planned major events, an increase in direct routes to Malta and additional seat capacity.