AVIAREPS Middle East Travel Caravan
on their investment and a growth in their business. That is our commitment to these events.”
Among the distinguished guests were the Ambassador for the Republic of Mauritius in the GCC, His Excellency Showkutally Soodhun G.C.S.K. Speaking with TravTalk His Excellency mentioned the many efforts taken to attract GCC locals as well as residents to the destination. HE said, “First of all, we have now opened an embassy in Riyadh after 50 years and we have also opened a secondary general consulate in the world in Dubai, ÀUVW LQ 0XPEDL DQG VHFRQG LQ
Dubai. Also now, we are working very closely with UAE and GCC to attract more visitors from these countries. In the past there were not many visitors coming to Mauritius from GCC countries, now all locals of GCC don’t need visa as have waived off their visa to enter Mauritius, now we are working on other residents who live in GCC countries to also receive visa on arrival upon idenWLÀFDWLRQ :H DUH DOVR ORRNLQJ DW improving connectivity from GCC to Mauritius, currently we have Saudia and Emirates serving the destination. We are speaking with the hotels and airlines to package in a way to attract more guests to our destination whilst improving the many attractions in Mauritius for guests. Our hotels are located on the white sandy beaches and there are more shopping malls added to attract the GCC clientele. It is hassle free now to travel to Mauritius if you are vaccinated. There are many private jet passengers that travel from GCC to Mauritius.”
This is relatively a new market for us, we represent an agency Malta DMC where we specialise in MICE, events, groups and conferences
Malta’s delegation consisted DMCs and hotels which were more suited for the Middle Eastern travellers. Arthur Grima – Senior Manager Marketing at Malta Tourism Authority, shared, “We are in the interesting period of seeing the recovery of tourism from the pandemic. In fact, this year we are expecting to have around 2 million passengers from all our markets. Middle East is an emerging market for us and the type of tourists we receive are luxury travellers, interested mainly in more exclusive and boutique, private luxury type of hotels. We shared our diverse culture as various civilisations left their mark on their island, ZKLFK LV D VLJQLÀFDQW DWWUDFWLRQ for visitors, also ours is the only language which is sematic but written in the Latin alphabet and this is very particular, its not just the language but also the gastronomy which is very varied and one can experience over 7,000 years of history. Connectivity to Malta from this region is easy ZLWK WKH GDLO\ ÁLJKW RQ (PLUDWHV to Malta. We are trying to make ourselves known in the region.”
Brian Bartolo, Director of Sales and Marketing Radisson Resort and Spa Malta Golden Sands, said, “We are showcasing one RI 0DOWD·V ÀYH VWDU SURSHUties located on the north side of the island; it is blessed with its location, primarily it sits besides Malta’s Golden Bay beach enjoying Malta’s wonderful sunsets and it is a place that RQH KDV WR YLVLW :H KDYH ÀYH different types of luxury suites, our best selling suites are what called the sense tower suites which sits by the water’s edge and they have just being refurbished two years ago.”
Chirs Micallef, General Manager Avon Brockdorff Services Limited, said, “This is a relatively a new market for us, we represent an agency Malta DMC where we specialise in MICE, events, groups and conferences, meetings as well as luxury travel so it was nice to meet people and showcase what Malta offers in this sector and it does offer quite a lot in this sector and value for money. A lot of people are not aware of the many offerings available in Malta so basically the agents asked questions about what you can do for incentives, is there enough conference space, facilities, hotels, also what I explained was that Malta is a small country its only 27km long and you don’t spend more time there. We also spoke about cuisine which is another attraction of the destination.”
We are showcasing one of Malta’s five-star properties located on the north side of the island; it is blessed with its location
We are trying to extend our market in the GCC, as you know intercontinental is part of IHG and we want to explore the GCC market in Malta
Uniqueness of our storyline in Malta is the ultimate Mediterranean experience because of our relationship with partners, artisans and farmers
Damon Camilleri Allan, Exclusively Malta, a luxury DMC in the Maltese islands, shared, “It’s a privilege to be here, it’s a unique situation as we represent luxury travel as well as small group travel, what that means is when we say luxury it doesn’t always mean the price tag rather the exclusivity, uniqueness and private nature of the experiences for guests. The uniqueness of our storyline in Malta is the ultimate Mediterranean experience because of our relationship with partners, artisans and farmers we can offer exclusivity which no one else can have which we believe our clients from this region would really appreciate.”
Grace El Khoury, Senior Business Development Manager Middle East, Intercontinental Malta, said, “We are trying to extend our market in the GCC, as you know Intercontinental is part of IHG and we want to explore the GCC market in Malta. The agents mainly inquired about our room inventory, as well as the surrounding areas as well as the meeting facilities for MICE business.”