MTA restructuring exercise near end

A restructuring exercise designed to make the Malta Tourism Authority more efficient, more effective and more accountable is in its concluding phase and will be finalised over the coming week, the MTA said.

The restructuring is based upon the recommendations of the Deloitte report published in October last year.

The MTA said its offices in the UK and Germany are being retained. The London office will be coordinating marketing activities in Ireland while Frankfurt will also be responsible for coordinating the MTA's marketing programme in Austria and Switzerland.

In Italy, there has been a "seamless changeover" following the closing down of the authority's Milan office. The marketing and sales function in this market has now been handed over to a representative company, Adam and Partner.

In the other markets where the MTA has had its own offices, namely France, Benelux, Russia and Scandinavia, the MTA is in the process of appointing representative companies to take over its marketing and sales functions.

In line with the authority's commitment to segment-driven marketing, the MTA's Valletta head office will now house a team of segment specialists who will be sourcing business for Malta overseas, in their respective segments.

The internal restructuring of the MTA will also be initiated over the next few days.

Meanwhile, the Malta branding process, upon which the MTA has embarked, is rapidly gaining momentum, the statement said.

The tendering process in connection with the selection of a pan-European creative design company is expected to take between six and eight months.

However, the MTA added, steps are already being taken to streamline the MTA's advertising in all source markets, to be in line with the brand's core values.

This means that with immediate effect, all of the authority's new marketing and advertising campaigns will be carried out in line with the guidelines already set out during the MTA branding workshop.