More Britons opting for long-haul travel
Britons are increasingly choosing to travel further afield for their holidays, research suggested today.
Insurer swiftcover.com said nearly one in four of the travel insurance policies it sold was now for a long-haul destination, compared with one in five just five years ago.
Britain is Malta's biggest tourism market, with well over a third of tourists to Malta being British.
The research found, however, that a growing number of Britons are likely to choose an exotic destination.
One in four people would like to travel to a tropical island for a once-in-a-lifetime trip, while 14% would like to explore ruins such as Machu Picchu in Peru and the same proportion would like to go somewhere they described as being "off the beaten track", such as India or China.
Around 10% of people said their dream holiday would be an African safari.
Many would also like to incorporate some adventure into their holiday, with 23% saying they would like to go white-water rafting, while 16% would like to do a parachute jump and 6% would like to go rock climbing.
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lyn nobbs
Jul 5th 2010, 10:54
We come to Malta 3 or 4 times a year, there is so much to see and do, but we stay in sliema well away from Bubbiba! But Malta does need a clean up, I am sure peoples homes are cleaner than their streets! Also the pavements and roads are terrible [as your increasing road accident rate shows] these are just basic things that improve everyones lives and then perhaps all will take pride in your beautiful island.
M.Caruana
Jul 5th 2010, 10:01
Maurice Borg - Yes I agree that is why we need sky tv and professional british presentators,
A Brincat
Jul 4th 2010, 19:37
M Caruana,
I full agree with you. Maybe with the money that is wasted every year on useless advertising and other good-for-nothing promotions the government can opt to transmit a 24 hour satellite channel that can be viewed by millions around Europe, Africa and many parts of Asia. After all it would only cost around Euro 2 million per year for a channel on satellite TV. Some time ago there was an attempt to purchase the rights to transmit local TV and radio stations on a satellite transponder and divided by all the station the cost was to be around Lm 50,000 per station. Maybe that was a little too high for local stations to pay. However if this was a public - private partnership the costs could be divided and therefore a satellite transponder transmitting local stations plus a Maltese promotional channel could become a reality.
The sad thing in Malta is that we are very short sighted in our startegies. That way we will not go very far in attracting more tourists. Low cost airlines could not be enough if the promotional platform does not work at its best.
M.Caruana
Jul 4th 2010, 20:04
@ A Brincat... every promotion is good. Some people watch tv, others read newspapers while others are internet users like myself. But you are right as I said an int. tv station would have millions of viewers also remember tv channels get money back from advertisements and many are self sufficient.
Let me give you an example. I just made a nice 30 seconds intro/presentation of Malta.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lp7UxqeEEYU
You know how much this movie cost me. 0 Euros. A yearly subscription costs 30 dollars only. Imagine that. The problem is when it comes to Government contracts etc, some companies cheat the government and give exorbitant prices. Bil mentalita' ta' Uwijja mhux il gvern ihallas. Obviously government officials wouldn't know if they are not experts in the subject. Example: a PC shop asks a company 1000 euros (quotation) and tells them that they have to change the m/board etc. when in fact all that was needed was a format. I have seen this happen. The company boss would not know but I realized and fixed the pc myself for free.
Maurice Borg- UK
Jul 4th 2010, 21:36
In my humble opinion the first start for the toursit advertising dept. is to cut the crap, starting with the stupid eurovison song contest that is boring people out their mind, and who the hell wants to come to Malta when all they talk about on the telly is politics and selling goods mostly on a good Friday or a bank holiday its just not on John... Grow up * look listen and learn from the more advanced countries ie., none other then Great Britain rules the waves and the rest of the world.
Thomas Rathband.
Jul 4th 2010, 18:19
I can well believe that that most are seeking exotic holidays further afield then europe, lets face facts, i amBritish and we have been to Malta now on two occasions, and its like anything else once you see it , being a small island we seen it all and done it all, and sorry to say Malta hasen't got much to offer except the ususal Buggiba type pubs trying to copy cat Blackpool style holidays or even Butlis style family holidays, we aslo find that for the same price we pay for a 2 week break in Malta is not much difference then a holiday in Barbados or some other south sea islands. Just an honest feedback, i think maybe Malta should cater for people from say further afield then europe ie., Japan, Australia,India and other far away places, but as for most of us in Britian i think the good times of a Maltese holidays are a thing of the past.
Martin Debono
Jul 4th 2010, 19:09
I agree. I'm Maltese but would I come here more than once? Probably not. Besides, service can be poor once you step outside your hotel (although we keep repeating the old cliche that Maltese are the friendliest people on earth), most of our cities dirty and choked with traffic, and our few sandy beaches rather overcrowded. We have a lot of cultural attractions but let's be honest these have limited appeal to young people or those who travel with small children (would you spend 2 hours in a museum with 2-3 kids in tow?). I can see why someone with access to inexpensive flights might choose Florida or the Canaries over Malta.
M.Caruana
Jul 4th 2010, 18:04
As I said before what we need is an international tv station broadcasting the Maltese grand history and breathtaking nature to millions of viewers. This would have 24 hrs programmes including Maltese history and nature reproduced in HD format. Was checking the internet there is a good company which have worked with Dreamscape SKG , Universal Pictures, Deutsche Welle, MTV , BBC and INS, Legworkproductions. Well done!!! The station would be sold to tv networks around the world. Some of it could be 80s music with footages of Malta in HD format to attract the age group we desire (40-55 yrs). Perhaps who knows we might make enough money from this enterprise to make an HD movie of the knights of Malta etc.
Some examples
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80p4XDcdK9U
(promotional, nature)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggE_Z0res4U
(legworkproductions, documentary)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZA4LXAzdJY
my amateur attempt. Mind the volume. We seem to be getting there slowly with some serious investment in Tourism. Keep it up.
James Green
Jul 4th 2010, 17:49
With the state of our 'roads' and driving we could surely promote an exotic offroad extravaganza.