Conferences held in Malta won the island gold and silver awards in the category of Best Short Haul Conference Destination at the prestigious Eventia International Awards held in London.

The awards ceremony, held in association with Conference and Incentive Travel Magazine, was attended by 850 top industry professionals and honoured outstanding business-to-business and business-to-consumer events such as corporate events, product launches, company exhibitions and meetings and conferences of all sizes and formats.

The Malta Tourism Authority said the industry-recognised awards prove that Malta not only has the infrastructure but the innovation and creative services to develop international events of this nature.

Gold was won by World Events agency for organising the Abbott Vasculars 2007 sales conference in Malta. The conference was tied into the Casino Royale Film launch and built around the theme of Licence to Win. Delegates were registered as secret agents and undertook a "five-day mission" to Malta.

Silver was awarded to the DRP Group for the 2006 Thomas Cook Annual Conference, which brought over 2000 delegates to the island and was the first conference to be held at the new Malta Fairs and Convention Centre in Ta' Qali.

The Thomas Cook conference also won gold for the Best Celebratory event.

Eventia executive director Izania Downie said: "These awards recognise the best and most innovative internationally-based events in our industry... The high quality of entries impressed me, and the results tonight demonstrate the competitive and creative nature of our industry.

"Tonight's finalists and winners serve as testimony to the energy and enthusiasm that is currently driving face-to-face communication to the forefront of marketing strategy."