Media coverage for the November Valletta and CHOGM summits has been valued at over half a billion euro, according to marketing firm M&C Saatchi  who carried out a report for the Maltese government.

Aneil Bedi, a partner at Saatchi, said the coverage had an unprecedented effect on Malta as a brand, showcasing the country's ability to host large scale summits.

The positivity of the stories, particularly about the Royal Family's love of Malta, had an invaluable effect, Mr Bedi said.

The value of the media coverage from the Valletta Summit was estimated to be €179.7 million, while the coverage from CHOGM was valued at €369.1 million.

Mr Bedi explained that the Valletta Summit and CHOGM generated 19,341 mentions for Malta, with a potential audience of 45.8 billion.

This is calculated by multiplying a media outlets claimed audience by the amount of articles, television and radio coverage.

The methodology assumes that on average 2.5 per cent of the unique visitors on the site will see the article and that the monetary value is about €0.31.

Only relevant mentions are taken into consideration and not just cursory ones, Mr Bedi said.

A spokesperson for the Office of the Prime Minister said the bulk of activities for the two summits were based around picturesque locations so as to boost Malta's image.

The spokesperson said audited accounts for the costs of the two summits will be published after the new year.

Expenditure on the two events is estimated at 10-12 million the spokesperson said, and many of the benefits will remain in Malta.