The Malta Tourism Authority office in Belgium has recently organized several movie related events to further promote the Maltese Islands in the Belgian market. The first event was in relation to the Gent film festival, where travel agents were invited to a VIP opening gala. Another initiative was a joint marketing collaboration together with Studio 100 relating to the making of the children’s movie “Mega Mindy versus Rox” in Malta earlier this year.
The “Mega Mindy versus Rox” movie was produced and shot in various locations around the Maltese Islands over a one month period. Studio 100 had previously recorded the Pirate Piet movie at Popeye village in 2012 and they were very pleased with the facilities and collaboration provided by the Malta film commission, the local film crew and the support of the Malta Tourism Authority. The Mega Mindy versus Rox movie features locations such as Marsaxlokk, Birgu, Selmun Palace, Fort Delimara, with Gozo featuring extensively.
An exclusive red carpet special premier took place in Antwerp, whereby the MTA invited several important Belgian travel trade partners and press to attend. His Excellency, the Maltese ambassador in Belgium, Mr. Ray Azzopardi was also present, as well as Belgian TV personalities and over a thousand enthusiastic Mega Mindy & Rox fans.
The movie premiere in the Netherlands took place in Amsterdam in December. The movie is scheduled to run for at least 12 -16 weeks in cinemas in the Benelux region.
During the shooting of the film, MTA Belgium organized a number of press trips. Besides this, various Business-to-Consumer and Business-to-Business marketing campaigns were organised in collaboration with Studio 100 in order to further promote the movie and the Maltese Islands as the ideal destination for tourists coming from the Benelux.
MTA CEO, Mr Paul Bugeja said: “The Film industry in Malta has been very successful during 2015, with around €100 million being contributed to the local economy. Films being shot in Malta and Gozo have had a helping hand in increasing our exposure overseas. The Belgian market has had an excellent year and in the period January till November 2015, a 14.7% increase was registered over the same period last year. These figures show that the marketing efforts carried out by the MTA to promote the Maltese Islands are reaping rewards”.