Malta at Berlin ITB Fair

Malta was present at one of the largest tourist trade fairs - the ITB Fair in Berlin held between March 7 and 11 - with a stand set up by the Malta Tourism Authority, as well as a number of other partners, including Air Malta.

One of the highlights of the fair was the launch of the Malta Tourism Authority's Frankfurt office's brand new 'Malta for all Senses' PR campaign.

The new German campaign focuses on Malta's appeal to the five senses - smell, taste, sight, touch and hearing. The campaign portrays Malta as a unique experience, which appeals to all the senses, going beyond a simple holiday visit.

During a new conference, attended by journalists from top-quality German print, television and radio media, MTA chairman John C. Grech spoke on the MTA's strategy in promoting Malta's unique value proposition and the way this was being reflected in the new campaign in Germany.

"Malta is a world of its own for a visitor to discover," Dr Grech said. "It is full of history, culture, folklore and events - there is a lot of activity going on throughout the year. Malta is just not a travel destination, but an experience."

MTA Central and Eastern Europe Regional director Joseph Galea spoke on Malta's performance in the German market. He introduced the MTA's new PR agents in Germany, Hering Schuppener, and introduced well-known TV chef Rainier Mitze.

Mr Mitze offered some exquisite dishes of authentic Maltese cuisine to the journalists present - which catered to their senses of taste and sight.

The main thrust of the MTA's new PR campaign is to encourage visitors to see Malta as a place where people experience the destination through their senses - for example, tasting the local food or looking at breath-taking views.

The campaign includes imagery that portrays the 'Malta experience'. The opening of the campaign was introduced through modern Maltese cuisine. However the campaign will continue to evolve and promote all that is uniquely Maltese.

Also attending the press conference were MTA Marketing and Promotion Directorate chairman Anthony Chircop and MTA Marketing and Promotion director Paul Galea.

A wide variety of delicious Maltese food was prepared by Chef Mitze for an event organised by the MTA at the Kempinski Bristol Hotel. The event was attended by a large number of tour operators from Germany as well as from Central and Eastern Europe.

During ITB, MTA officials met a number of the major tour operators and language schools, including LAL, ITS and TUI, and Dr Grech gave interviews to radio and print media journalists.

Mr Galea said he was well satisfied with the meetings held during the fair. "All tour operators and group organisers whom we met in Berlin were unanimous in their assessment that Malta was one of the better performing destinations," he added.

"Winter 2002/03 results show an increase for most operators to Malta, while current bookings for summer are only marginally below last year. However, tour operators are pleased with Malta and we were even advised at ITB that two German operators will be adding two extra flights to meet demand."

When asked to comment about the mood prevalent at the fair, Mr Galea said that the economic scenario in Germany and the fears about impending war in Iraq will not be conducive to travel and, as expected, these two factors have negatively affected ITB. The ITB saw a decrease in the number of trade and consumer visitors.

"Generally the mood was not all that positive and the trade reported that the last four to five weeks have seen holiday bookings come to a complete standstill. Even before this however, bookings to all destinations were low as the poor economic conditions in Germany and increased personal taxation were a deterrent to holiday bookings," he said.

The overall situation in the German travel market is not at all positive. The continued deterioration of the German economy and the poor expectations of a realistic upturn in the near future are keeping people away from committing their savings to holiday travelling.

While Malta bookings for summer 2003 were encouraging up to December, the situation took a turn for the worse from January when consumers received their first wages and salaries and realised the extent of the reduction in net income.

Low prices, attractive children offers, special services and upgrades, and even pocket money to spend on the holiday were all offered to stimulate demand from prospective holiday-makers. However, even these are having little effect as consumers simply do not have a positive feeling about spending money.

"Malta is managing to survive rather well. Winter should see an acceptable performance, while summer bookings are currently running slightly below last year. The rate of decrease for Malta is far less than the market average. Late-bookings may compensate for this decrease," Mr Galea said.

The main operators report a relatively good performance for Malta. TUI claim that Malta bookings are on a par with 2002 in both winter and summer. Thomas Cook report an increase of around 20 per cent in bookings for winter but a 12 per cent decrease for summer. LTU (including ITS) report favourable levels of booking to Malta.

In the meantime, during the presentation of last year's travel statistics at the ITB, the World Tourism Organisation expressed hope that tourism will bounce back despite problems in the global scenario in the coming weeks.