Malta has featured first in a list of 25 "travel secrets" published in Lonely Planet Magazine's fall 2016 issue.
The two-page magazine article describes Valletta as "among Europe's most beautiful capitals" and highlights Gozo as being "home to some of EUrope's best scuba diving."
Malta's feature was written by Abigail Blasi, who also authored Lonely Planet's guide to Malta and Gozo.
Malta Tourism Authority CEO Paul Bugeja was delighted with the coverage, saying that a two-page advert in the magazine would have cost €130,500.
Lonely Planet Magazine, which is designed exclusively with North American readers in mind, has a readership of 1.35 million. It is published every quarter.
Lonely Planet is the world's largest travel guide book publisher, having sold more than 120 million books and 11 million copies of its travel apps. It is owned by NC2 Media.