Malta splashed across Italian Condé Nast Traveller

Malta's vibrant culture, rich heritage and traditional gastronomy have been splashed across this month's Italian edition of Condé Nast Traveller magazine.

This prestigious monthly publication, the leading magazine in the travel industry, has dedicated all its 225 pages to discovering Malta's hidden assets and Gozo's treasures.

With a circulation of about 80,000 copies in Italy, the magazine portrays all the islands' facets in a way that should entice Italians to hop on the next plane to Malta.

Landing all this publicity was no easy deal and Dominic Micallef, Malta Tourism Authority's segment head of history and culture, has been working on it for the past two years.

The idea started brewing in Mr Micallef's head when he returned to Malta, after spending a few years serving as director at MTA's office in Milan.

"The project required perseverance and Condé Nast needed assurances that a copy dedicated solely to Malta would sell. Plus, to get into their schedule you really have to think ahead," he said when contacted by The Sunday Times.

The cover lures readers to look inside the magazine with a photo of the idyllic, azure waters along Comino. Though he would have preferred the cover to feature the island's heritage, Mr Micallef points out that since it was a prelude to summer, it had to focus on the sea.

This was the time of year most Italians booked their summer holidays so it was the perfect publicity to boost this market and show them what Malta really had to offer.

"Many Italians tend to equate Malta with English language schools and the sun, but this magazine provides the perfect showcase with colourful photos of our life, sights, and sounds," he said.

Mr Micallef adds that while the Maltese knew all about Italy, the same could not be said for the Italians.

"It's wrong to assume that because we know so much, that it works both ways. There are Italians who have no idea where Malta is, so we really have to push this destination and show that there's plenty to see and do all year round."

Ryanair's presence, providing low-cost flights between Malta and Pisa, as well as Air Malta's route to Venice had served to improve tourism figures.

While happy to have achieved this goal, Mr Micallef is not about to sit back; two weeks ago he paid a visit to Vogue House in London, to entice them to publish a Condé Nast Traveller magazine in English, with MTA support.

"They were interested, but now it's a question of whether they want to put the investment behind it. We'll continue to work on it," he said.

MTA wants to go a step further and even have a similar edition in Spanish. With Italy already in the bag, it has a good chance of capturing new markets.