On the occasion of World Tourism Day 2015, which is celebrated annually on 27th September, the Ministry for Tourism and the Malta Tourism Authority will be organizing a series of events to mark this important milestone. The theme chosen for this year by the UNWTO (United Nations World Tourism Organisation) is that of “One Billion Tourists, One Billion Opportunities”.
The Ministry for Tourism and the Malta Tourism Authority have prepared their own programme of events, which shall be taking place over three days, whereby visitors and locals alike will be able to celebrate the day by attending various entertainment events and visiting several historical and cultural venues in Malta and Gozo.
In order for the celebrations to be more meaningful to both visiting tourists as well as the stakeholders involved in the tourism industry, the Malta Tourism Authority has extended an invitation to the local tourism industry to participate with their own initiatives.
Staff from the Malta Tourism Authority shall be greeting tourists with flowers as they disembark from their cruise liners at the Valletta Cruise Port, whilst a seabed clean-up campaign will also be co-ordinated by numerous dive-centres.
Other events will include free guided tours of Valletta which will be provided by members of the Malta Union of Guides, with the theme of these tours dubbed as ‘The Theatres of Valletta – Past and Present’. Moreover St John’s Co-Cathedral shall also be offering free admission to the Co-Cathedral, the Oratory and the Caravaggio paintings on Saturday, 26th September from 1.00pm until 4.00pm.
Moreover on Saturday 26th September, in Marsalforn, Gozo and on Sunday 27th September, in Marsascala, a Fashion Show & Flamenco Dance programme shall be taking place, together with traditional folk music. On both nights, an Artisan Fair will also be held, in which numerous skilled craftsmen will take part.
MTA CEO, Mr Paul Bugeja commented that “this year’s theme for World Tourism Day is particularly relevant to the Maltese Islands, seeing that even this year we are on track on breaking another record in the incoming tourist arrivals. The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) through a recent edition of its respected World Tourism Barometer has acknowledged the impressive increase of 5.3% in arrivals to the Maltese Islands for the first six months of this year when compared with 2014, thereby outgrowing the 4% growth registered by international worldwide tourism. Moreover these record figures registered by our country during the first six months of this year brought an increase of 6% in tourist expenditure when compared with the same period last year reaching the impressive Euro 625.6 million mark. This implies that Malta is sustaining its trend of outperforming overall growth rates at global, continental and regional levels.”
Mr Bugeja continued by stating that “The Maltese Islands have a great deal of competition from other Mediterranean destinations and therefore we must continuously strive to improve our tourism product and service offering. It is now time that we consider all the opportunities available for the Maltese Islands by enhancing the product and offer varied quality events throughout the whole calendar year”. For further details on the World Tourism Day events, kindly visit: www.visitmalta.com/en/events or phone the Malta Tourism Authority on 22915 440.