Fiorentina in Malta for winter training camp

The top Italian Serie A football team, Fiorentina, chose the Maltese Islands as the location for their 2019 Winter Training Camp, prior to continuing to pursue their objective of finishing in a league position that will guarantee them European football next season. During their stay, Fiorentina will compete in the Visit Malta tournament, which is a triangular tournament between Gzira, Hibernians and Fiorentina.

The Italian club arrived in Malta on 5 January and will stay until today, and have already carried out a number of training sessions during their time here, in order to improve their fitness levels and tactics, to be in top shape once the league and Coppa Italia competitions recommence.

ACF Fiorentina officials, coach Stefano Pioli and team players met with the Minister responsible for Tourism, Dr Konrad Mizzi at the MFA training grounds in Ta’ Qali as well as with media and supporters who followed their training sessions. ACF Fiorentina’s contingent also found some free time to experience some of Malta’s tourist attractions.

The Malta Tourism Authority, together with government, various sports associations, sports enthusiasts and the private sector, have in recent years implemented a number of initiatives to increase the number of visitors, be it individuals or teams that visit the Maltese Islands in order to take part in a variety of sports disciplines and training camps.

Sports tourism does not only help make our sporting facilities more economically sustainable, but also has a spillover effect on hotels, the food and beverage industry, transport providers and places of entertainment. Malta offers very good sporting facilities to FIFA approved standards, managed by the Malta Football Association as well as individual football clubs. A wide choice of accommodation to suit different teams’ budgets com- plements these facilities.

Carlo Micallef, chief Marketing officer of the MTA, said that sports tourism is a growing niche in the Maltese Islands, and in 2017, there was an increase of over 13% in the number of tourists that visited the Maltese Islands for sports-related holidays, when compared to 2016. Similar positive results are expected once 2018 data is analysed. Micallef explained how sports tourism includes the whole spectrum, namely the athletes themselves together with all the staff, friends, family, as well as any fans that might visit in order to enjoy a holiday following their favourite team or athlete train or compete. Sports tourism is one of the niches that MTA gives great attention to with the objective of increasing tourism in the winter months.

Dr Gavin Gulia, the MTA’s executive chairman, was thrilled to welcome Fiorentina to the Maltese Islands, and their presence here is another name which can be added to the list of top clubs that chose Malta as the base for their training camps. Some previous clubs include AC Milan, Juventus, Inter, Manchester United, Liverpool, Bayern Munich and PSV Eindhoven. Dr Gulia concluded by thanking everyone involved in the organisation of this training camp.