New Malta website offers online booking facility

A new website has been launched promoting Malta as a leisure and business destination and allowing visitors to book their complete holiday online.

The "one-stop" website, www.choosemalta.com, by Inspire Ltd, offers visitors the opportunity to plan their holiday from scratch, booking anything from flights and accommodation to tours and excursions.

"It is not only about researching, although information on a variety of facilities, including real estate, health, education and marine services, is available. It is also about choosing, booking, paying up and getting organised instantly - the whole process," Inspire Ltd's managing director Jonathan Shaw said.

The internet was the way forward in the tourism industry, he added. Statistics showed a decline in the use of high street travel agents and an increase in online bookings, which is expected to rise further. About 80 per cent of internet-enabled customers researched their travel online and 59 per cent of them go even further to purchase online.

"If I am choosing between Malta and Greece, for example, and I come across an easy-to-use and informative site for Greece but not the equivalent for Malta, that lacuna is likely to influence my choice," Mr Shaw said, stressing the importance of an efficient website to promote the country.

The website had been in the making for a year. Built by Chris Knights and his team, it is composed of a number of interactive sections, enhanced by the images of photographer Kurt Arrigo, in an interactive gallery which includes videos.

Among its innovative features is a page on the Maltese language, which Mr Shaw feels always arouses curiosity overseas and is an asset that should be capitalised upon. Visitors can have a lesson in Maltese and hear a number of key phrases in the language.

The site has a web cam offering a view from Valletta of Marsamxetto Harbour and a five-day weather forecast as well as maps which put Malta in a geographic context in relation to the rest of Europe. It also includes a fact sheet, complete with emergency telephone numbers, and access to a wedding planner and a calendar of events.

It lists about 15 companies offering a variety of tourism-related services, as well as several hotels, so visitors can compare prices and check availability there and then. Through its partnership with Opodo, the pan-European travel service, access to over 400 airlines is available.

The website has been granted EU structural funds to the tune of Lm10,000 which the company intends to pump into a second, updated version that could also contain the information in a variety of languages.