MTA UK office wins prestigious travel industry award
In a gala event held recently 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 award in the UK travel industry and is also billed as the most difficult award to win. The TTG Awards are an annual event held 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 of 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 having developed very strong relationships with the UK travel industry and for implementing an impressive marketing strategy to promote Malta as an ideal allyear-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.
Paul Bugeja, MTA CEO, remarked on the success achieved in such a short time since the office’s 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 receive from the MTA Head Office and the Ministry for Tourism.” Mr Bugeja continued by thanking all those involved in achieving this prestigious award.
Mr Bugeja concluded by saying 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% over the same period last year.