Portes de Bombes in Floriana was illuminated in red and gold on Friday evening, in an activity carried out by the Malta Tourism Authority (MTA) as part of the EU-China Light Bridge initiative, one of the projects to mark the EU-China Tourism Year.

"Various iconic landmarks, buildings and sites throughout the EU were being illuminated in red with golden stars on the occasion of the Chinese Lantern Festival, to build a virtual bridge of light with China."

"Last year, thirteen new Visa Application Centres were authorized by the Maltese Embassy in China. Such centres are available for Chinese citizens or non-Chinese citizens legally residing in China who wish to apply for a Schengen visa or a residence permit to Malta. The opening of these new centres means that apart from Beijing and Shanghai, potential visitors can easily go to the closest city to submit their Visa application to Malta. "

"Last year, the MTA started a six-month online joint marketing campaign with Ctrip, which is the largest entity of its kind in China. Ctrip is a Chinese provider of travel services including accommodation reservation, transportation ticketing, packaged tours and corporate travel management. After striking marketing deals, more agencies started to feature Malta as an itinerary in their package. Also with Ctrip's support, Malta gained more exposure on Chinese social media and internet. Another joint marketing exercise took place last December with Shijiebang, the leading provider of outbound fully-independent traveller services in China. "

"Last January, the Valletta 2018 opening ceremony was streamed live on CGTN (China Global Television Network), a 24-hour English news channel that has 57million followers on Facebook. No less than 50,000 people from all over the world watched this live transmission."

As part of its marketing efforts in China, the MTA will be participating in two major trade fairs during 2018; China Outbound Travel and Tourism Market in Beijing in April and ITB China Shanghai in May. The MTA will attend these fairs with Maltese Destination Management Companies and incoming operators, in order to get more partners to work with from China.