Visit Malta recently reached 200,000 fans on its Facebook page, a significant increase from the 45,000 fans it had 12 months ago.

The demographic reach is strong with the younger generation, with 54 per cent of fans aged between 18 and 34. However, 44 per cent of page fans are over 35. It is also worth noting that 56 per cent of the fans are female.

Visit Malta’s Global Facebook page communicates with its fans in six languages: English, Italian, French, Spanish, German and Russian. Less than three per cent of the fans are located in Malta, showing how effective this social tool is for communicating with travellers.

MTA chief executive officer Josef Formosa Gauci said: “During the past year, the Malta Tourism Authority has been investing more resources so that our islands can maximise the benefits from the largest social media platform. Facebook allows the MTA’s community managers to communicate and promote the islands by means of images, interesting facts, event information and other important information on a daily basis. It is also a platform where we can communicate regularly with people who are considering coming to Malta as well as offer a service whereby fans can ask questions and receive advice both from other fans and from the community managers administering our Facebook page.”

The MTA recently hosted a European Blog Trip, which brought together a group of influential bloggers from Malta’s European source markets for a weekend discovery of the Maltese Islands.

“We are thrilled that this trip has paid good dividends in enhancing our presence on the online and social media,” he said.