MIA’s chief executive officer Peter Bolech said the aim was for the company to improve its communication strategies with its customers, 90 per cent of whom are tourists. He expressed the hope that the magazine will also open up communication between the local service providers and tourists.

Mr Bolech said that last year the company had started a process to change and up-date its corporate identity. A new mission statement had been formulated which in turn prompted the design of a new image, based on the company’s philosophy to promote Malta as a focal point in the global airport network. He said a development of the present website is in the pipeline.

Tourism and Culture Minister Francis Zammit Dimech, who was present at the launch, said the magazine was aptly named Grip because Malta was coming to grips with a new reality. He spoke about surveys on the potential of tourist returning to Malta.

The latest survey carried out by the Malta Tourism Authority revealed that 85 per cent of tourists from the UK had expressed a wish to return to Malta while 78 per cent of German, 72 per cent of Italian and 50 per cent of French visitors gave the same reply when asked.

He said these surveys should be followed up to establish why the level of satisfaction varies from one country to another and what corrective measures should be taken to stabilise these figures.