Creating the 'Malta Story'

It is up to government to decide whether a new organisation to promote Malta is necessary - as recommended by The Communication Group plc, a London based PR and lobbying firm - and where to position it, but this should not duplicate the work and promotional activities of Malta Enterprise, The Malta Tourism Authority, Finance Malta, Air Malta and other public entities nor encroach on those of private sector organisations, according to former Cabinet Minister Michael Refalo.

Dr Refalo, who served as Malta's High Commissioner in London, brought together a public-private partnership in Malta which commissioned The Communication Group plc to create a holistic story for Malta's key audiences - businesses, tourists and talent - and to articulate a set of compelling messages that allow key organisations to promote Malta in the most powerful and consistent way.

The Communication Group said that the "great and good" of Malta's business and tourism community should come together as an influential group of international ambassadors to champion Malta. It says Malta should draw on the experience of successful networks such as London First, Think London and Visit London to create an influential Malta-wide organisation with a clear mission, "to make Malta an unparalled place to visit and do business".

The new organisation - Malta First - would champion Malta's leading employers across all key sectors, help shape government policy affecting Malta's business environment, develop practical solutions to Malta's strategic challenges, promote Malta holistically to business and tourism audiences, share insight and intelligence, shine a light on Malta's areas of expertise on a global scale and promote Malta's landmark initiatives.

Dr Refalo told The Times Business that the marketing arms of public and private organisations should continue to work independently of Malta First "or whatever one chooses to call it".

He added: "One should however establish a set of parameters that would underpin a common coordinated message which public and private organisations would include while marketing and promoting themselves in the way they think best and at the same time help create a favourable perception of Malta."

The former minister said that as the report is a stepping stone for further action there are other stages to cover.

"I strongly believe that the initiative is very necessary and goes a long way to informing a wider public near and far and to easing the difficulties faced by Malta's diplomatic representatives, overseas marketing and promotion executives and give a more coordinated picture of Malta and what we offer," he said.

He said the report has been presented to the 18 members of the public-private partnership who commissioned it and Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi and Tourism Parliamentary Secretary Mario de Marco met the chairman of The Communications Group and the project director.

Dr Reafo said he has no doubt that the report's recommendations are "doable".

"As The Communications Group has submitted a proposal for undertaking the next steps I believe that the initiative will attract investment, more tourism and talent to our islands. As the Prime Minister discovered on his visit to the Middle East and Finance Minister Tonio Fenech recently expressed himself in a similar vein, our problem is that we are not on the radar. This does not mean that we have failed to attract industry, business, financial services and tourism to Malta, far from it. But with the better tools and creating a favourable perception of Malta, our work could be made easier and results even more effective," he said.

The report says that a consistent message to present Malta to the world must be communicated in order to position the country as a winning destination for both business and tourism.

It says that Malta must be positioned as a brand and that a story about Malta needs to be developed which draws on emotions through powerful storytelling and distinct messaging. It also points out that Malta's human resources should be united to create a "coalition of the willing" in order to promote the country's image and that information about Malta's competitor markets should be treated as valuable.

The document says that public and private sector partnerships should be encouraged and a communication master plan is needed to develop a strategy to deliver Malta's message.

The report provides a framework to ensure that Malta realises its ambition to be a globally respected destination of the future. It says a Malta Story should be agreed on, a framework for its delivery should be created - an organisation and delivery mechanism to champion Malta - and a communication master plan and destination portal be set up.

The report says Malta First would be responsible for key messages and guardianship of the Malta Story and should be led by an individual with a detailed understanding of the business and tourism agendas and a clear mandate to deliver on a defined set of objectives and a communication master plan.

The document recommends the creation of a "new dynamic website" which will bring together all existing collateral around a single dynamic platform and unite Malta's key assets to tell the Malta Story. It also suggests the dedication of a special section to Gozo highlighting the island's special characteristics and attractions.

The website would process investment and tourist enquiries, post video clips of locations, download visitor collateral and showcase Malta's public and private organisations with the ability to link through to their own websites.

Dr Refalo said the idea behind creating the Malta Story began while he was Malta's High Commissioner in London and attending a luncheon debate at Dartmouth House, Charles Street, London, the headquarters of the English-Speaking Union. The main speaker, Sir Robert Worcester, chairman of Ipsos Mori, the world renowned polling organisation, unveiled his company's finding about the US electorate's voting intentions in the US presidential election.

"After coffee, I introduced myself to Sir Robert and tried to pick his brain on how best to promote Malta and put across our multiple offers to a wider public. Sometime later two Ipsos Mori executives called to see me at the High Commission and gave a presentation following which I inquired tentatively about the cost of undertaking a survey to discover the British public's perception of Malta.

"As a full-blown survey would cost the earth I opted for a survey of British editors' perception of Malta. The next step was finding the money and convincing government ministers in Malta of the difficulties we encountered when promoting investment to Malta as well as our tourism and financial services potential. To cut a long story short funding was made available but lo and behold the survey showed that Britain' opinion formers do not have an opinion about Malta."

Dr Refalo said the pollsters' report says that "most British editors do not feel knowledgeable about Malta and their few impressions are ambivalent" and that Malta's image is not well defined in the minds of most and its strongest image is that it is a good place to go on holiday. Far less associated with Malta are IT facilities, health and wellness and a positive investment climate.

The survey found that there was no formal contact with editors which according to the pollsters "is of concern".

"My instructions include benchmarking Malta with Italy, Ireland and Cyprus. The result? We were in the bottom of the pile," he said.

"Subsequently I got in touch with The Communications Group I have known since having chaired the WTO Destination Management Committee, showed them the report and asked their advice.

"I asked the way we should go about it and just before the 2008 election in Malta received their suggestions on which steps to take. As the expense was not prohibitive and the proposal made good sense I referred it to Malta where in view of the forthcoming election it was understandably placed on the back burner.

"The weeks rolled by and although my stint in London was coming to an end I sought a meeting with the Prime Minister and explained the difficulties faced by Malta's overseas representatives in overcoming the obstacles of small size, smaller budget and the absence of the wherewithal to make Malta better known. One would expect Britain's editors to know more about Malta and if British opinion formers knew practically nothing, one can well imagine the low level of knowledge about Malta prevailing in other countries!"

Dr Refalo said he left the meeting with the Prime Minister's promise of support and began to cobble together the public-private partnership which commissioned The Communication Group plc to undertake the study and draw up the report about Malta.

"I must make it clear that my recompense for liaising and moving to the next step is simply the great satisfaction of doing something for Malta in which I strongly believe in," he said.