Malta Tourism Authority UK wins Tourist Board of the year

Wednesday, 20 September 2017, 16:52 Last update: about 8 years ago

(from left to right): Pippa Jacks – Editor of Travel Trade Gazette, Polly Poulton from Travelsphere & Just You Holidays (sponsor), Peter Vella – MTA Director UK and Ireland, and Rob Brydon – comedian and host.

For the second year running, the Malta Tourism Authority, London Office has won the TTG Award for the UK's Tourist Board of the Year.

"This award is regarded as the most prestigious award in the UK travel industry and the highlight of the industry's calendar. It is held each year at London's renowned Lyceum Theatre by Travel Trade Gazette, the UK's leading trade weekly and oldest travel industry publication in the world. No tourist board has won this award on consecutive years in recent history," an MTA statement read.

"A robust judging process in two stages first saw 2,000 travel agents rate their favourite tourism authority in order to decide the shortlist. Shortlisted authorities then completed a thorough submission document outlining their achievements and performance in the last 12 months, which was then judged by a panel of industry experts and leading agents. Malta won this prestigious award against fellow finalists, Australia, Abu Dhabi, Mauritius, Ras Al Khaimah, South Africa, Tenerife, California and Barbados. "

According to Travel Trade Gazette, "Malta Tourism Authority impressed the judges with diverse and unique marketing ideas, while demonstrating its strong relationships with multiple tour operators. It is also "trailblazing" in a number of areas such as LGBTI and its growth figures were extremely impressive".

TTG's group editor Pippa Jacks said "The TTG Travel Awards have earned a reputation for being the toughest awards to win in travel, so any company who takes home a trophy this year can be sure they really are the best-in-class".

Paul Bugeja, MTA's CEO, remarked: "Winning this award once, is already a great achievement in itself, winning it twice in a row, against such tough and formidable worldwide competition is unprecedented, especially considering the limited resources such a small island like ours can afford. This award is considered to be the ultimate accolade in the UK industry and a wonderful testament to all the dedication and hard work of the MTA team in London, backed up by the excellent support provided from the MTA Head Office and the Ministry for Tourism". Mr Bugeja continued by thanking all those involved in achieving this highly prestigious award.

The Minister reponsible for tourism, Konrad Mizzi, expressed pride that Malta is being represented in the best way possible by means of its offices abroad. He congratulated the Malta Tourism Authority and encouraged its workers to persevere in striving towards excellence.