Virtu Ferries has joined forces with Cruise International to offer Sicilians the opportunity of starting their Mediterranean cruises in Malta. The thinking is that since travelling times within Sicily to the ports are sometimes much longerthan simply taking a Virtu ferry to Malta, coupled with the high frequency of ferries to Malta, it makes a lot of sense for Sicilians to start their cruises from Malta.

The package includes a return trip by catamaran, a Mediterranean cruise and an optional one or two nights in Malta.

“This,” the company said in a statement this week, “is an entirely new initiative making Malta a point of departure and arrival for Sicilian cruise travellers. The major Sicilian ports for cruise liners are Palermo and Messina. Virtu Ferries is targeting travellers from the south, south east and south west of Sicily who are within easy reach of Pozzallo and Catania. Palermo is some four hours by road from the Provincia di Ragusa with its home port of Pozzallo”

“Instead of commencing their cruise in Palermo or Messina, travellers are being given the option of starting their journey by catamaran in Pozzallo or Catania, with a further option of spending a night or two in Malta, from where they embark on their Mediterranean cruise; hotel accommodation is included in the package.

Virtu’s Italian tour operating arm, Le Vacanze Maltesi, is offering three cruises in June and July to various destinations in the Adriatic and the Greek Islands. An advertising campaign by Le Vacanze Maltesi is already in place on the Sicilian media and is set to intensify in the coming months.

Virtu Ferries does more than 500 crossings every year. The new concept, the company reports, has been greeted with anticipation by Sicilian tourism circles.