Seabourn’s newest cruise ship christened ‘Ovation’ in the Grand Harbour
On Friday, 11 May, the Grand Harbour in Valletta hosted the christening of Seabourn’s newest addition to their fleet, the Ovation.
The Ovation is Seabourn’s fifth ultra-luxury cruise liner, with one of the world’s most preeminent designers, Adam D. Tihany, taking care of the design and layout of the boat, focusing on providing the guests with novelty and intrigue at every corner.
The Seabourn Ovation entered the Grand Harbour in the early morning of Friday, 11 May, at around the break of dawn, in preparation for the christening and celebration, which took place later on during the day.
Elaine Paige, the world famous singer and actress, will be serving as godmother to the Seabourn Ovation and therefore also led the christening ceremony, which had a lit Valletta as a spectacular backdrop for the occasion. Numerous VIPs invited by Seabourn were also in attendance.
The Executive chairman for the Malta Tourism Authority, Dr Gavin Gulia, said that a company of this stature choosing to carry out the christening ceremony for its latest, and possibly more luxurious ship, is a sign of Malta’s progression in the cruise industry as well as in the tourism industry in general. Dr Gulia continued by saying that in 2017 the Maltese Islands saw a significant increase in cruise traffic, with the total figure amounting to over 670,000 passengers for the year, which was an increase of over 7%, when compared to 2016.
Dr Gulia concluded by thanking Mifsud Brothers Ltd, the agency representing Seabourn in Malta, for making the christening ceremony possible.
The Minister for Tourism, Dr Konrad Mizzi stated that the cruise liner industry is a growing one for the Maltese Islands. In fact, increases have been registered on an annual basis since 2013, with the figure in 2017 being 55% higher than the one in 2013.
Dr Mizzi continued by saying that Malta has grown in reputation in this industry. Thanks to greater connectivity, the Maltese islands are acting as a hub for cruise pas- sengers with more visitors flying to the islands to commence their cruise holiday.
Dr Mizzi concluded by saying that in many instances, tourists visiting Malta for the first time during a cruise, will later return to explore the island.