The Malta Tourism Authority (MTA) and VisitMalta Incentives & Meetings were honored with the prestigious foreign destination marketing service company award at the 14th Annual Business Excellence Awards. The awards ceremony took place on Wednesday 12 June at Birdie Events - Continental City Golf Club in Budapest, Hungary, recognizing excellence in business tourism across ten categories.
This accolade highlights MTA's significant efforts in promoting Malta as a premier business and leisure destination within the Hungarian market, enhancing brand awareness, and fostering robust partnerships with media, leisure, and business travel sectors.
Reflecting on this achievement, MTA CEO Carlo Micallef stated, "This award is a testament to our unwavering commitment to positioning Malta as a top destination for both business and leisure travelers. The Hungarian market has shown remarkable growth, and we are dedicated to continuing our investment in this promising market through impactful advertising and PR campaigns to generate year round higher spending tourism to the Maltese Islands."
John Mary Attard, MTA Regional Director for Eastern Europe and the Baltics, also expressed his satisfaction, saying, "Our success in Hungary is evident from the impressive growth in passenger numbers. In 2023, Hungarian arrivals exceeded the record numbers of 2019 by almost 50%, and the first four months of 2024 have already shown a further 40% increase over 2023. We are excited to build on this momentum and strengthen our presence in this vital market."
The Business Excellence Awards, created by Turizmus Kft., aim to honor tourism service providers who deliver top-quality services in the business tourism sector. This year, the awards featured an innovation in the evaluation process, allowing prizes to be won by submitting a bid. The organizers received 62 applications, which were meticulously evaluated and ranked by a professional jury comprising delegates from professional organizations and editorial representatives. Additionally, Turizmus Kft. opened the top three shortlisted candidates in each category to public voting, garnering around 17,000 votes from readers.
This year's awards recognized the best Budapest and rural business hotels, capital and rural business event venues, mobility service providers, domestic and foreign destination marketing service companies, bleisure travel agents, best new market players, and for the first time, the most innovative tourism AI-solution service provider.
Hungary, while a secondary market for Malta, has demonstrated significant potential. The Malta Tourism Authority is committed to sustaining this growth trajectory in 2024 with robust advertising, PR initiatives and collaboration with trade partners.