Kinnie, Malta and the British visitor

So Kinnie is attempting to penetrate the UK market by establishing a bridgehead in the West End of London. Wow! The thousands of West Enders who have visited Malta and developed a taste for this unique product must be forming queues already.

The West End must contribute a very, very small number of visitors to the Maltese islands. Those who know the product must be very few in number. I suspect that the vast numbers of visitors to the West End will make little effort to replace the more established soft drinks with one which is generally agreed to be an acquired taste. I like Kinnie and wish it well in the UK but I feel that the hoards in the Midlands, Lancashire and Scotland who have already tasted of its delights and told others of it would have been a better population to assault. This move seems to be in line with the prevailing wish to get a better class of visitor to Malta. The Maltese islands are a delight in themselves and are as “eccentric” as is Kinnie. I can see very little to attract the glitterati. I would suggest that those who are involved in boosting the tourist trade take a look at the Maltese islands from the standpoint of the visitor. What Malta has is splendid but not enough to catch the ever so choosy jet set.

A little more attention to the tourists who do visit would produce a greater long-term benefit to the Maltese economy.

I wish Malta and Gozo very well and will continue to visit, if only to drink ice-cold Kinnie.