Chinese tourism to Malta growing

Tourism Minister Michael Refalo said that gradually but steadily the number of Chinese visiting Malta was on the increase.

Speaking at the inauguration of a new Air China office in Valletta, Dr Refalo said Malta has gained a reputation among the Chinese as a centre of excellence for learning English.

"The presence of Air China in Valletta is most welcome and provides an additional service to an evergrowing number of Maltese who visit China to discover the wonders of China's history and culture as well as to become better acquainted with Chinese society," he said.

Dr Refalo added that since July last year, following the agreement between his ministry and the National Tourism Administration of the People's Republic of China, when the government of China granted approved destination status to Malta, there has been a visible increase in the number of Chinese visitors.

The majority of them are drawn to Malta by their desire to learn and improve their linguistic skills in the English language and by the excellent tuition provided by the university and specialised Teaching English as a Foreign Language institutions.

China is expected to become one of the world's largest sources for outbound tourism.

Dr Refalo said the Malta Tourism Authority fully recognised this potential and has opened an office in Beijing to promote Malta to all sectors of Chinese society.

The MTA's website is online in the Chinese language while the first Malta guide book was launched last November by Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami during his official visit to Beijing.

Moreover, MTA's brochure 'Learning English in the Sun' is now also available in Chinese.

The Malta Tourism Authority undertakes marketing trips to China and hosts Chinese journalists to create further awareness of Malta.

However, Dr Refalo remarked, investment in promotion cannot produce dividends unless the Chinese can avail themselves of greater and more frequent means of access to Malta.

Up to now travel connections to and from China are mainly via Rome and Frankfurt.

"New developments in air transport schedules that facilitate travel to Malta are always welcome," said Minister Refalo who announced that in the first week of April, as a result of the new direct links between Beijing and Cairo, Malta will host the first group of Chinese tourists on a two point holiday to Malta and Egypt.

The group will include six journalists who will be in Malta as MTA's guests to produce a series of newspaper and magazine articles.

"We also look forward to the planned Shanghai/Dubai link which will soon be in operation," Dr Refalo said.