MSC Cruises will bring over to Malta 120,000 tourists during next year, with a great possibility that the number will increase in 2012, Norman Hamilton, managing director of Hamilton Travel, local agents for the Italian shipping company, said.
“Expect big things for 2012,” he said when he addressed journalists on board the MSC Splendida for the launch of a rebranding exercise of the company he set up in 1992.
This year, the number of tourists brought over by MSC Cruises totalled 130,000, which is 10,000 higher than the figures expected for next year. But this has come about because cruises this year started earlier and will finish later than they will do in 2011.
“Cruises usually start in Easter week and finish in mid-November. But next year Easter will come later in the year and cruises will finish in late October, as the number of people who opt for cruises in early November has dropped,” Mr Hamilton explained.
Still, 2011 will be another bumper year for MSC Cruises and 2012 is expected to be better, he added.
Mr Hamilton said that MSC Cruises are the perfect fit for Maltese passengers as the official languages on board are Italian and English, languages with which the Maltese are familiar.
He expressed concern that other shipping lines were cutting drastically on their calls to Malta, saying that one of them – without mentioning the name – will be reducing the number of visits from 50 to just eight next year.
“This will be a big blow for Malta,” he said, adding that he failed to understand why this was happening.
During the 2011 season, instead of the MSC Splendida, MSC Cruises will be using MSC Fantasia for the 27 back-to-back weekly cruises to and from Malta every Wednesday. The 334-metre long 138,000-tonne flagship was launched in Naples in December 2008 and is the identical twin of the MSC Splendida, which has been coming to Malta regularly for the last two years. MSC Fantasia’s first cruise from Malta will be the Easter one departing on 20 April, while the last call will be on 19 October.
Next year, three other MSC liners will be calling at Malta. These are the MSC Armonia, MSC Musica and MSC Melody.
About 4,000 Maltese travel on board MSC Cruises each year out of Malta. The company employs 11 full-timers, two part-timers and over 40 tour leaders. Hamilton Travel have been Malta’s agents for the Italian company since 1996.
While specialising in cruises, the company also offers other tour operator services, both for groups and for individuals. Several tours are organised each year to various countries, not only European.
The new logo, which replaces the one that has been with the company since its inception, still has a “wing” that is synonymous with travelling. “Yet, the wing also looks like a ship’s bow, which encompasses all that Hamilton Travel stands for,” Mr Hamilton said.
“We make it happen,” Mr Hamilton concluded, naming the company’s official motto.