Galea appointed MTA marketing director

Mosta, 22/11/06 - Three hours after Island Travel Trader Online broke the story of Jeffrey Cutajar's severance from the MTA yesterday afternoon, the authority issued a press release saying the former had disagreed with changes to his department and quit. (See MTA's Cutajar paid off, former CEO offered job)

The MTA "has just completed a detailed re-evaluation of the marketing and promotion directorate's functions and operations.

"On the basis of this re-evaluation, it began to implement a number of changes within this core division, aimed at promoting improved efficiency, greater synergies and better overall effectiveness".

According to sources Cutajar's department was to be divided - one section to oversee administration and the other to handle foreign tour operators and international marketing. He disagreed with the plan.

In rather quaint, antiquated English the authority's release says "a difference of opinion was registered between the MTA's management and the director marketing and promotion, Jeffrey Cutajar, with regards to the way forward. To this end, and by mutual consent, it was agreed that Mr Cutajar's contract be terminated, albeit with all contractual obligations being honoured by the authority.

Meanwhile, Joseph Galea has been appointed marketing director "with immediate effect".

Galea is based in Frankfurt, Germany, and not only runs the MTA's office there, but is also segment head responsible for 'summer and winter sun leisure'.  He will remain in Frankfurt "for the time being".

A second director is expected to be appointed soon.

"The situation at the MTA is beyond laughable", an industry pundit tells Island Travel Trader Online, "in just a few months we've had the resignation of a chairman on the grounds that he'd accomplished his mission; the resignation of the entire board bar the chairman over a leak, now the director of marketing quits because of a disagreement. This is absurd.

"This is also typical Malta; when something goes wrong, in this case tourism, we restructure the MTA - meaning we rename all the departments - and, hey presto, we are expected to believe all is well again.

"In this age when news travels globally in milliseconds, we don't do ourselves any favours with goings on such as this at the MTA".

Five star Palace slated for June opening

Sliema, 22/11/06 - Proudly accompanied by his three children, AX Holdings chairman Angelo Xuereb showed tourism and culture minister Francis Zammit Dimech around The Palace - a new five star property slated to open next June.

"This new hotel will represent the ultimate in individuality and contemporary architecture without sacrificing luxury and finesse", said hotel general manager Claire Xuereb and Angelo's eldest daughter.

The Palace is a Lm9 million investment by AX Holdings and its main target market will be business travellers. Located in the centre of Sliema, this 155-room hotel forms part of the complex that includes two other developments, the four star Victoria Hotel and Palazzo Capua.

Architects of The Palace are Mangion, Mangion & Partners whilst the firm of Martin Xuereb and Associates is responsible for interior design. Claire Xuereb says the "aim of The Palace is to retain traditional hospitality and quality service found at the Victoria while creating a vibrant and distinctive character".

The elegantly furnished rooms offer 11 designs based on classical and contemporary lines. Also included are luxurious themed suites. These, together with the many services "will make The Palace the ultimate experience for even the most travel-weary guest".

Adding to its versatility, The Palace will also incorporate food and drink outlets that aim to make the hotel the "number one destination". The Talk of Town will be a café; the TemptAsian Lounge, situated on the top floor of The Palace will offer 360º views and a fusion of Asian cuisines. The Tabloid will be the hotel's main restaurant offering Mediterranean cuisine.

Meeting facilities will include halls seating 250 and 300 theatre-style plus break-out rooms. Two floors have been earmarked for a spa.

British Hotel refurbishes

Valletta, 22/11/06 – The two star British Hotel is being refurbished and upgraded.

In the past year air-conditioning has been installed in public areas and in 24 of the property’s 40 rooms.

We are now about to start refurbishing the roof terrace and carry out upgrading works internally, says hotel director David Montebello. “Next year we’ll do the restaurant”, he adds.

The British is one hotel that has already felt the benefits of low cost carriers operating to Malta.

Says Montebello: “Ryanair’s first passengers from Pisa stayed here, and we’ve had a lot of enquiries and interest from Ireland for accommodation from February onwards”.

Ryanair’s Dublin frequency is due to start operating to Malta next February.

Demolition for Carolina

Bugibba, 22/11/06 - The 65 room, three star Carolina Hotel has closed and will be demolished. An apartment block is planned for the site.

MTA’s Cutajar paid off, former CEO offered job

Mosta, 21/11/06 – Jeffrey Cutajar, the Malta Tourism Authority’s director marketing and sales, has been paid off – effective today, Island Travel Trader Online (ITTOl) has learned.

Former MTA chief executive Leslie Vella - now the authority’s head of research and business planning - has been offered the position, ITTOl has further learned.

According to normally reliable sources, Cutajar went to work this morning and found an envelope with a letter and cheque on his desk. The cheque apparently covers his salary until the end of July 2007 – the date when his contract with the tourism authority ends.

When contacted by ITTOl, Cutajar said his severance was “by mutual consent” and he had “no further comments to add”.

Meantime, the magazine was unable to reach either the MTA’s chairman, Sam Mifsud, the chief executive, David Mifsud, or the chairman’s PA, Kevin Drake, for a comment. ITTOl was told that all three were at an out-of-office meeting. Vella was also unreachable.

Jeffrey Cutajar, whose 58th birthday is on Thursday, joined the then National Tourism Organisation of Malta (NTOM) in 1987 as assistant director of the London office. The following year he was appointed director of the NTOM’s Amsterdam office. In 1992 he was transferred back to London as director.

In 1999 he returned to Malta and was appointed the MTA’s product planning and development director and last December he was named director marketing and sales.

Accor quits Selmun Palace

Selmun, 20/11/06 - Accor Hotels relinquished the management of the Grand Hotel Mercure Selmun Palace on 31 October. The four star property, renamed the Selmun Palace Hotel, is now being operated by its owners, Air Malta.

Mario Cilia, formerly sales and marketing manager of the hotel and now its new general manager, told Island Travel Trader Online it was by "mutual agreement" that the French company quit the Selmun Palace.

Air Malta is selling its non-core assets - it has already sold the former Crowne Plaza for Lm23 million - and will soon be putting the 154-room Selmun Palace on the market. And Accor was reluctant to manage a hotel that is for sale.

Travel-Malta buys Think English

Birkirkara, 20/11/06 - Travel-Malta Destination Management has bought Paola-based Think English Language School.

The school has been renamed the Travel-Malta School of Languages and is run by former Alexandra Palace Hotel general manager Tonio Coleiro.

The school offers traditional language courses, client specific courses and "learning adventurous English" courses.

Giovanni Corrieri and Alfred Attard set up travel-Malta Destination Management in August 2005.

30% increase in outbound September traffic

Valletta, 20/11/06 - The only tourism figures that have shown an increase this year, are for travel abroad by Malta residents. In September 29,738 travelled from the islands, an increase of 30.3 per cent over the corresponding month last year.

Of these, 25,430 travelled by air, while 4,308 left the islands by sea the National Statistics Office (NSO) reports.

Meantime, in the first nine months of the year, the number of Malta residents travelling abroad was197,589, a 10 per cent increase over the same period a year ago. The most popular destination was Italy, accounting for 31 per cent of the total.

Males significantly exceeded female travelers, according to the NSO, the former accounting for 59.4 per cent of the total number of travellers.

The greatest proportion of travellers - 46.5 per cent - were between 25 and 44 years old, followed by those in the 45 to 64 age bracket.

Star Cruises cancels 2007 Mediterranean season

Mosta, 10/11/06 - Malaysia's Star Cruises has cancelled the planned deployment of its SuperStar Libra to Malta in 2007.

Speculation has it that Tan Sri Lim Kok Thay, chairman of Star Cruises, took the decision unilaterally to cancel next summer's Mediterranean programme.

Now back in Mumbai, after completing an inaugural Mediterranean season that started in early June and ended in mid-September, the Libra's India cruise programme remains unaffected.

The cruise company is now liaising with tour operators and agents regarding the cancellation of Libra's summer 2007 programme. "During this time", a company statement reads, "it is a priority of Star Cruises to minimise the disruption caused to trade partners and their clients".

Any tour operator or travel agent with clients already booked to sail on the Libra in the Mediterranean next summer "will be contacted on an individual basis".

People already booked on a seven nights Mediterranean cruise onboard the Libra will be offered the option to transfer to Star Cruises' sister brand, Norwegian Cruise Line, for a similar cruise on the Norwegian Jewel sailing from Barcelona. "Passengers will be accommodated in the same or equivalent cabin category, inclusive of all port charges and taxes. Any difference in the cruise fare will be met by Star Cruises".

The Malaysian cruise line company also "acknowledges that further holiday rebooking arrangements may be required, depending on the nature of a cruise and stay package. Details of such compensation for relevant tour operators and specialist retailers will be available shortly.

"Alternative compensation packages, including those regarding air fares to join the Norwegian Jewel, will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis".

Meantime, the reaction from the Maltese trade has been anger and disappointment.

"We had no warning this was going to happen, quite the opposite", one travel agent told Island Travel Trader Online. "We sold a good number of cruises this year and were confident that next summer would be even better, but now what", he wondered.

"The Maltese have really taken to cruising, and the fact that cruises such as the Libra sailed from Valletta was a great incentive for the local market. We were really upbeat about next summer ", said another agent.

According to Star Cruises Malta agent SMS Travel & Tourism, some 6,000 packages were sold on the local market for sailings on the Libra between June and September this year. "This excludes packages sold abroad".

And Mondial, another major retailer of Libra cruise packages was so confident of a successful 2007 that it was ready to reserve up to 100 cabins a week next year.

See also Star Cruises launches 2007 Malta programme, Star Cruises chooses Malta to homeport in 2007 and Star Cruises to homeport liner in Valletta

Malta Hotels Directory 2007 published

Mosta, 08/11/06 - The 2007 edition of the Malta Hotels Directory has just been published by Island Publications. The directory, first published in 1999, is the definitive reference on all accommodation in the Maltese islands.

The Malta Hotels Directory is the country's official guide and is produced for and endorsed by the Malta Tourism Authority.

The directory lists facilities and services available at every hotel, aparthotel, tourist village and guest house in the Maltese islands.

"This is the most comprehensive listing of accommodation available locally", says Island Publications (IPL) managing directory Terence Mirabelli. IPL also publish Island Travel Yearbook, the travel industry's "bible" and the award-winning Travelmalta.com - the site you are reading!

The Malta Hotels Directory is distributed by the Malta Tourism Authority at international trade and consumer shows and by its overseas information bureaux. It also available locally from the MTA.

Bulgarian couple buy Gozo guesthouse

Mosta, 08/11/06 - The Plajja Guesthouse in Marsalforn, Gozo, has been sold to a Bulgarian couple, who have renamed the 19-room property the Beachview Hotel.

Desy Beshkova told Island Travel Trader Online she and her husband, Anastas Beshkov, bought the guesthouse two months ago. And it is now being billed as offering three star accommodation.

Air Malta to discontinue Dublin frequencies

Mosta, 06/11/06 - Air Malta will discontinue its weekly flights to Dublin early next year.

"This operation will be stopped and the aircraft will be deployed to other destinations, including Liverpool and Venice,” a company spokesman told Island Travel Trader Online.

"These two new routes will start operating on 4 May next year and are expected to yield 25,000 additional tourists every year to Malta", he added.

Several industry pundits question the wisdom of Air Malta stopping the service just a couple of months after Ryanair launches its low cost service from the Irish capital on 8 February.

"We've just handed Ryanair the best gift they could wish for - zero competition from their home base!"

Another told Island Travel Trader Online "this is a false economy. It's not as if the Air Malta is short of planes and has to trim services here and there. In fact, it's taking delivery of two new ones next year".

Indeed, two factory fresh Airbus A320s will be joining Air Malta's fleet in February and March 2007.

Meantime, Air Malta's twice-weekly flights to Liverpool and Venice will operate on Mondays and Fridays. The Monday flight, KM156/7, to Liverpool will depart Malta International Airport at 07:00 arriving at 09:35. The return leg, Liverpool/Malta, departs at 10:25 arriving in Malta at 14:55. Friday's flights depart Malta at 16:45 arriving in Liverpool at 19:20. The return flight takes off from Liverpool at 20:10 arriving in Malta at 00:40.

Flight KM656/7 to Venice will operate every Monday from Malta at 06:00 arriving at 07:50. The return flight to Malta will leave Venice at 08:40hrs arriving at 10:35. The Friday service will depart Malta International Airport at 11:00 arriving in Venice at 12:50. The return schedule departs Venice at 13:40 arriving in Malta at 15:35.

Le Méridien Phoenicia for sale

Floriana, 03/11/06 - The island's premier hotel, the 136 room, five star Le Méridien Phoenicia is for sale. Although a price tag has not been attached, offers of more than €10 million (Lm4.3mn) will be considered.

The sale, being handled by Christie & Co of London, includes an extensive collection of buildings and land that offer substantial potential for alternative uses and development. These include former staff accommodation located between the hotel and the privately accessed, open space attaching to the bastions; the former hotel laundry and disused buildings below the pool area with tunnel access to the sea front. The hotel's site is held in perpetual emphyteusis at a peppercorn rent.

New airport security rules from 6 November

Luqa, 03/11/06 - New security measures for departing flights at Malta International Airport come into effect next Monday. The measures, issued by the Office of the Manager Airport Security, will apply at all airports in the European Union.

These rules affect only hand luggage and restrict the amount of liquids that one can take through security checkpoints and on to aircraft. Travellers may carry travel-sized toiletries (100ml or less) that fit comfortably into a one litre, clear re-sealable plastic bag (size 18cm X 20 cm). Liquids include gels, creams, oils, perfume, lotions, aerosols liquids, hair and shower gel, pressurized containers including shaving foam, other foam and deodorants, pastes including toothpaste, liquid/solid mixtures and any other items of similar consistency. (The one litre, clear re-sealable plastic bags can be bought from most outlets, including the airport.)

Since these restrictions only apply to hand luggage passengers should pack liquids (even in small quantities) in their checked baggage. "This would ensure the smooth movement of passengers from the check-in to the departures areas", an Air Malta press release says.

Passengers can carry larger amounts of prescribed liquid medications, baby food and diabetic glucose treatments but they have to declare them at the MIA screening point for additional screening.  They are not to be enclosed in the one litre bag.

Passengers travelling on all flights will be required to present the transparent re-sealable plastic bag at security checkpoints (out of the hand luggage); separately from their hand luggage to the security staff for examination. Passengers are also required to remove coats and jackets to be screened at security checkpoints. Portable computers and other electrical items are to be removed from hand baggage before screening and screened separately. After the security check is complete the plastic bag can be placed in the hand luggage.

Air Malta's policy - like most other airlines' - allows passengers to carry one piece of hand luggage the dimensions of which should not exceed 18cms x 45cms x 50cms and which should not weigh more than five kilos.

The new rules still permit passengers to buy larger quantities of liquids at the Malta International Airport shops in the airside departures area. Where passengers have a two-sector flight, with a final destination in another European airport, the liquids bought at the airport shops will be sealed. The purchase receipt will be made visible and attached to the bag as a proof of purchase on that day.

Bugibba's Primera to close for winter

Bugibba, 03/11/06 - The three star Primera Hotel will close on 24 November for upgrading and refurbishing. It will reopen on 1 May 2007.

Citing the noise and dust that will be caused by the demolition of the former Concorde Hotel, which stands across the road from the Primera, general manager Ivan Borg told Island Travel Trader Online "it's pointless staying open, clients will get angry".

Consequently, the Primera will use the winter to redecorate its façade, spruce up the interior of the 82-room property and replace and upgrade soft furnishings.

New bus route serves Valletta Waterfront

Valletta, 03/11/06 - A new bus route to service the Valletta Waterfront and the cruise terminal was introduced on 1 November, in a bid to improve access to the capital from the port.

The new service, route 198, runs every half hour and operates from Valletta to Floriana; it passes through the new park and ride area, down to the former Sea Malta head office, by the new maritime authority building, on to the Valletta Waterfront and Great Siege Road and back to the Valletta terminus.

Route 198 operates from 09:00 to 18:30 and tickets cost 20c one-way and 40c for a round trip.

Air Malta to operate 130 flights weekly over winter

Luqa, 03/11/06 - Air Malta will be flying to 35 destinations and operating 130 flights a week over winter. "This season will be yet another exciting winter for our customers", said Brock Friesen, Air Malta's recently appointed chief officer commercial and strategic planning.

"This winter we are focusing on three core aspects of our strategy. We will be increasing frequencies to urban markets to boost short breaks opportunities. We are also improving processes and IT tools such as revenue management to better manage our inventory, thus providing customers with value for money travel opportunities. Finally we are focusing on our marketing communications campaigns and aggressively promoting value for money travel opportunities during the lean winter months.

This winter Air Malta is increasing its capacity on its network by five per cent, which represents an absolute increase of 31,000 floated seats over winter 2005. This extra capacity is intended to help the local tourism industry.

"Service improvements to our customers are at the forefront of the airline strategy. Our passengers are now experiencing the best in-flight entertainment on the Malta route," highlighted Friesen. "We are continuing with our fleet replacement project and this season we will be receiving the last remaining two brand new Airbus A320 aircraft.  Next year our fleet average age will go down to 2.5 years, becoming one of the youngest fleets in Europe and throughout the world. Apart from cost advantages, the new fleet is giving customers added comfort and improved services.

"Another service improvement was the launch of our new call centre, Centrecom, through which we have centralised our telephone reservation operations offering customers longer opening hours including weekends and holidays", added Friesen.

"This winter we have again worked hard to improve the product and services we offer as well as our operations. We remain the major aviation player in Malta providing the necessary connectivity to a wide spread of destinations to most of the major cities in mainland Europe, a good number of regional airports, as well as covering certain key routes in North Africa. This is to the obvious benefit of not only the Maltese community but also to the thousands of tourists who visit Malta and Gozo every year. We are the only airline really committed to sustain both the incoming and the outgoing tourism industry", concluded Friesen.

Speaking about the highlights of Air Malta's winter operations Brian Bartolo, general manager marketing and product, said: "We have increased frequencies on Amsterdam, Paris, Birmingham, Newcastle, Bristol, Glasgow and Munich. We have also increased a weekly flight to London Gatwick, retimed the Thursday operation to London Heathrow to have the same daily timings from a Monday till Friday, moved the Dublin flight from Saturdays to Fridays, combined operations between Glasgow and Newcastle on Mondays and Thursdays and between Bristol and Birmingham on Tuesdays. We are also continuing our Budapest operation throughout winter."

The airline will be operating a Malta/Amsterdam/Brussels/Malta flight every Tuesday and Friday and a Malta/Brussels/Amsterdam/Malta flight on Sundays. The other flights to Brussels and Amsterdam on other days of the week will remain unchanged.

Air Malta is also adding another Rome/Reggio Calabria/Rome service on Mondays through Friday and increasing the Catania/London Gatwick/Catania operation to three weekly flights.

Air Malta will be operating with a fleet of 13 aircraft; five Airbus A319s, five Airbus A320s and three Boeing 737-300s. Two of the A320s are stationed in Birmingham and Bristol.

Bartolo also announced the launch of the winter 2006/7 edition of Flyaway Tours, Air Malta's package holiday brochure for the domestic market. "The 54-page brochure is packed with attractive, flexible winter vacations and travel opportunities at great prices", he explained.

This season Flyaway Tours' main attractions are "enhanced" football packages, golf resorts, skiing resorts, theme parks, city breaks and packages to long-haul destinations including Australia, China and the United States.

Golf resorts have been introduced for the first time with the option of buying the full package before departing or opting to purchase from the hotel itself. The resorts are in Sicily at the Il Picchio Golfo and in Tunisia at the five star Royal Azur Thalassa in Hammamett.

Skiing resorts are a now must in every winter Flyaway Tours brochure. This season they include the Bansko and Borowetz ski resorts in Bulgaria, Abruzzo and the Dolomites ski resorts in Italy together with Nicolosi and Zaffarena in Sicily.

A choice of hotels in Sofia are being offered ranging from Lm9 per person per night at the St Valentine Hotel, a few minutes from the city's centre, to Lm14 per night at the central four star Princess Hotel. Other packages include the family-run Zodiak Hotel in the mountain resort of Borowets and the new Avalon Hotel in Bansko from Lm6 per person on bed and breakfast.

Together with partner airlines, Flyaway Tours have reintroduced long-haul packages to Sydney or Melbourne in Australia with Qantas. Packages start from Lm466 and include a seven nights stay and return airfares. China has been reintroduced with hotel packages in Beijing and Shanghai.

USA prices have been further reduced and offer connections from European gateways. Packages to Orlando start from Lm177 including all flights and two nights accommodation with the option of extending from just Lm5 per person per night.

Amadeus adds 9,000 hotels to its databases

Madrid, 03/11/06 - Amadeus, a global leader in distribution solutions for the travel industry, has added 9,000 properties in the six months since March, taking the total to more than 70,000 hotel properties worldwide. Corporate and leisure travellers now have an even greater choice of city, secondary city and countryside locations to enable them to select a property to meet their needs. The new hotels are distributed to off- and online travel agencies connected to Amadeus, including Opodo and to corporate travellers via Amadeus e-Travel Management (Aergo).

"Increasing hotel content is of strategic importance for Amadeus because it makes the booking process for travel agencies more efficient - they don't need to look elsewhere for hotel content. For hotels themselves, Amadeus offers distribution to 75,000 travel agency locations around the world, and as we increase the value of our offer to travel those agents, hotels will receive more of the efficient and high-yield bookings that the travel agency/GDS channel offers," explains Antoine Medawar, managing director of Amadeus Hospitality Business Group, "In this content drive, we are including more and more hotel consolidators, which has allowed us to add new properties very quickly - our inventory has grown by nearly 15 per cent in six months."

Amadeus has incorporated hotel content from large hotel consolidators this year, like hotel.de announced earlier this year. Another Amadeus initiative to boost high-yield travel agency hotel bookings is its best available rate programme, in which hotels guarantee to supply Amadeus with rates that are the same or lower than those available through other distribution systems, branded websites or the hotel's own call centre. Amadeus recently announced that over 70 hotel brands with more than 12,000 properties have signed up to its best available rate programme since it was launched in February 2006.

Worldspan unveils repricing tool

Mosta, 03/11/06 - Worldspan ticket exchange plus is a comprehensive new desktop tool that walks travel agents through the ticket repricing process, beginning with validation of a PNR for repricing. In addition, Worldspan rapid reprice select, introduced last August as the travel industry's first all-in-one low-fare shopping and repricing technology, has received another powerful shopping feature.

Worldspan ticket exchange plus, available to travel agents from the Worldspan Go! desktop, performs repricing and ticketing functions that eliminate time-consuming manual processes, as well as costly data entry and system response errors. When travel agents need to modify, reprice and reissue an airline ticket, the tool proficiently qualifies the PNR, captures and pre-populates historical ticket data, executes mathematical calculations, documents refund exchange notices in the PNR and completes the ticketing entry.

"Ticket exchange plus gives travel agents another tool that lets them focus more of their time on customer service and new sales while Worldspan technology does the work," said Kathy Fitzpatrick, Worldspan vice president - North America. "Already one of our most-used desktop productivity tools, ticket exchange plus underscores Worldspan's commitment to delivering the industry's most advanced, all-encompassing ticket repricing technologies."

The recently released Worldspan rapid reprice select, which introduced low-fare shopping into the repricing process, has a new shopping feature that adds flexibility to the repricing process. At the time of the product's introduction in August, travel agents could shop for low-fare alternatives for modified itineraries. Today agents can also shop itineraries that have not yet been modified. This means agents can select originally booked flight segments and shop according to all-new travel dates, destinations and other trip parameters, and receive up to five available low-fare alternatives. Rapid reprice select accomplishes this by combining key features of Worldspan e-pricing, the global leader in low-fare shopping technology, with the core rapid reprice tool, the first solution to automate repricing and reissuing tickets when traveller itineraries change.