EasyJet sets up two companies in Malta

Mosta, 29/11/05 - Low-cost, British airline easyJet has set up two companies in Malta - easyJet Malta Holdings Ltd and easyJet Malta Ltd - indicating that it has bigger plans for the island than simply operating scheduled services from the United Kingdom and continental Europe.

Early in October The Malta Independent on Sunday reported that easyJet intends introducing a regular frequency from the UK next April, but neither the airline nor any other aviation sources confirmed or denied the newspaper's story.

Shareholders in the new companies, registered on 4 November with an authorised capital of Lm10,000,001, are EasyJet plc and Grant Thornton Fiduciare Ltd. Directors of both companies are Chris Walklett, Neil Mills, Austin Demajo and Diane Vella Bianco.

What's more, easyJet is already listed on Maltacom's online directory as having offices at 30 Princess Elizabeth Street in Ta' Xbiex - which also happens to be Grant Thornton Fiduciaire's address.

EasyJet, meanwhile, remains secretive about it plans regarding Malta. When contacted, Island Travel Trader Online was told that the company has a "proper structure" and any more information could be found on the Malta Financial Services Authority's website.

easyJet's press office manager at the airline's Luton head office, was equally cagey: "we have no plans at the moment, and cannot comment on any future plans as it is commercially sensitive".

easyJet provides high frequency services on short- and medium-haul routes within Europe from its eight bases at Amsterdam, Bristol, East Midlands, Geneva, Liverpool, London's Luton, Stansted and Gatwick. The carrier operates 83 routes with a fleet of 64 B-737s.

Air Malta sells retail company

Luqa, 29/11/05 - Air Malta has just issued a press release confirming what Island Travel Trader Online reported on 29 September; that it had sold Air Supplies & Catering Co Ltd to the Mediterranean Nuance Group Ltd. (See Italo-Maltese joint venture buys KM's Air Supplies.)

The Mediterranean Nuance Group - a locally registered company - is owned by the Nuance Group, Airport Investments and M Demajo (Holdings) Ltd.

Starwood completes acquisition of Le Mèridien brand

White Plains, 26/11/05 - Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide has acquired the Mèridien brand and the related management and franchise business for the portfolio of 130 hotels and resorts globally for approximately $225 million, roughly equal to the amount of Starwood's current investment, including accrued interest, in the debt of Le Mèridien. The completion of this acquisition will significantly increase the company's footprint in Europe, Africa, Middle East and Asia Pacific.

The acquisition of Le Mèridien brand management and fee business further supports Starwood's strategic shift from its significant real estate ownership to a management and franchise fee focused model, one of the strategic pillars that underpin Starwood's future direction.

"The acquisition of the Mèridien brand is an exciting and significant development for Starwood that we believe further defines us as a truly global hotel operator," said Steven Heyer, CEO of Starwood Hotels & Resorts. "We love the Mèridien brand which is why we have pursued it over the last couple of years - we see great potential. Le Mèridien is a perfect complement to the Starwood portfolio".

With 43 properties in Europe, 47 in Africa and the Middle East, 28 properties in Asia Pacific and India and 12 in the Americas the brand is also a perfect complement to Starwood's current geographical footprint, securing its position as one of the leading consumer lifestyle hotel and leisure companies in the world.

Starwood will continue to operate the Mèridien flag and anticipates that the alignment of the Le Mèridien brand with a larger, stable, multi-branded hotel group will enable the brand to thrive by enhancing revenue, accelerating growth and providing a robust career path for Le Mèridien’s associates worldwide.

Le Mèridien has a healthy development pipeline already in place, including the recently opened Le Mèridien She Shan Shanghai, a luxury 325-room hotel in the city. There are more than 10 hotels planned to open in 2006, in destinations such as Malta, India, Thailand and China.

Management and franchise fees from the hotels expected to operate under Le Mèridien flag in 2006 are estimated to be approximately $45 million on a full year basis. Incremental steady state costs associated with operating the Le Mèridien brand are estimated to be approximately $15 million a year. Excluding transition costs, the deal is expected to be earnings neutral for the remainder of 2005 and slightly accretive in 2006.

Starwood, which assumes control of Le Mèridien effective immediately, anticipates significant business benefits from Le Mèridien’s alignment with Starwood, following what Heyer says will be a "smooth and speedy" transition period. Michael Wale, senior vice president Le Mèridien operations, will lead the transition. Based in London, he and the Starwood integration team will leverage Starwood's global scale and infrastructure to quickly bring about operating efficiencies for Le Mèridien and to integrate it into the Starwood business within six to nine months. Costs associated with operating and maintaining duplicate structures and systems during the transition are expected to be approximately $35 to 40 million and will be expensed as incurred. It is anticipated that approximately $8 to 10 million of these transition costs will be expensed in the fourth quarter of 2005. Additionally, Starwood expects to incur one-time costs of approximately $55 million directly attributed to the acquisition and integration of the brand.

MTA gears up for annual conference

Valletta, 26/11/05 - The Malta Tourism Authority will hold its annual conference on 7 December at the Mediterranean Conference Centre in Valletta. The theme of this year's conference is The Malta Tourism Authority - The Way Forward.

The opening address will be delivered by Minister for Tourism and Culture Dr Francis Zammit Dimech, MTA executive chairman Romwald Lungaro-Mifsud will then elaborate on the theme of the conference and explain the day's proceedings.

Branding consultant Christian Sinding will then deliver a presentation entitled A Branding System for Malta. Sinding has been assisting the authority in developing a new system and preparing the groundwork for a brand communications programme. He will also be announcing, “for the first time, the three core values for the Maltese”.

Former MTA CEO Leslie Vella, now head of research and business planning, will present the findings of an “exercise aimed at testing scientifically these core values, in Malta's tourism source markets”. The authority's director for marketing and sales, Jeffrey Cutajar, will elaborate on how the MTA's international advertising programmes for 2006 have been streamlined into one campaign. He will also explain how these will be incorporating the brand's core values.

Vella will also deliver a presentation on the implementation of the authority's internal branding campaign. This will be followed by presentations from Mario Attard, director product planning and Frank Farrugia, regulatory director.

“Conference participants will then get to know more about the process leading to the formulation of the MTA's next strategic plan, from Leslie Vella”.

The MTA annual conference is open to all tourism stakeholders. Those wanting to attend can obtain a copy of the programme and registration form from the MTA's corporate website at www.mta.com.mt or by phoning 22915601 or by emailing janet.grech@visitmalta.com

Registration, extended until Wednesday, 30 November, is on a first-come-first-served basis.

Air Malta signs £60mn deal

Luqa, 11/11/05 - Air Malta today signed a three-year deal worth £60million (Lm38.2mn) with Excel Aviation for more than 3,000 flights carrying around one million passengers.

The charter flights will be operated by Air Malta from its UK bases in Bristol and Birmingham to various destinations including the Canary islands, Spanish Mediterranean resorts, the Greek islands, Cyprus, Red Sea resorts, Turkey and to a number of skiing destinations.

Air Malta's intra-European operations were made possible as a result of Malta's EU membership. Soon after joining the EU, Air Malta immediately took the opportunity and based two 180-seater Airbus A320s in the UK to operate a series of charter flights to destinations excluding Malta. This new long-term agreement is a further extension of the airline's intra-European charter operations from the UK.

"We are extremely pleased to have secured another three years of operations for our UK bases", said Joe Cappello, Air Malta's chief operating officer. "The charter flights were originally intended to last from May until October 2004 but due to their success we extended the operation into winter 04/05 and eventually to summer 2005," added Cappello.

"Air Malta is constantly assessing market and commercial viable options and business opportunities to increase its revenue streams and aircraft utilisation. Through this operation from the UK Air Malta is not only diversifying its services and increasing its revenue generating opportunities but it is also marketing Malta and Air Malta. Our two aircraft based in the UK are dressed up with the Air Malta livery and are constantly flying our brand name across several countries. This agreement will also further strengthen Air Malta's position in our prime market - the UK", concluded Cappello.

Speaking after the signing Phil Wyatt, CEO of Excel Aviation said: "We are very pleased to have finally secured a long-term deal with Air Malta.

"The operation and service by Air Malta has been impressive and the feedback from the passengers and clients was very positive. Air Malta has proved that it can adapt to an extremely competitive market and continue to offer its high standards. We intend to continue to grow our relationship with Air Malta and aim to double this business by 2008".

More passengers fly KM as revenue drops

Luqa, 10/11/05 - Air Malta carried more than 690,000 passengers on its network in Q3, an increase of 2,644 over the same period in 2004.

Passengers on the scheduled network to and from Malta increased by almost 8,000 (+1.62 per cent), whilst the number of passengers on charter services dropped by 16,000. "This decrease", says KM "was compensated with improvements in traffic levels on the airline's other intra-European operations".

Flight punctuality in Q3 improved by seven per cent, reaching 80 per cent in the three months ending in September. Air Malta operated 3,050 flights which represent an increase of 47 flights. Seat load factor on scheduled services recorded a marginal improvement on last year reaching 74 per cent. Aircraft utilisation reached 12.06 hours per aircraft per day representing a 10 per cent improvement on last year.

The end of the Q3 signifies the first six months of the financial year for Air Malta.  During this period revenues went down by Lm1.7 million while costs decreased by almost Lm0.5 million. This was achieved in spite of a Lm3 million increase in fuel costs.

"Air Malta is operating in difficult market conditions where fuel prices, health scares, decrease in yields and increased operator and destination competition are constantly adding pressures on the airline. We have seen very positive results from cost efficiencies, which confirm the determination of management and staff to meet the turnaround plan.  Unfortunately the erosion in revenues resulting from cutthroat competition has affected the performance but we are determined to see improvements in this area also.

Air Malta makes Lm2.2mn loss

Valletta, 08/11/05 - Air Malta made a loss of Lm2,158,000 after tax in the year ended 31 March, Investments Minister Austin Gatt told Shadow Tourism Minister Evarist Bartolo in parliament yesterday. In financial year 1 April 2004 to 31 March 2005 the Air Malta Group made a loss of Lm1,781,000.

The airline's operating loss was Lm4,819,000 and Lm4,826,000 for the group.

MTA to replace labels with quality

Mosta, 8/11/05 - When the Malta Tourism Authority introduced a new classification system for hotels in 2000 the concept of special labels was also launched.

These were to be awarded to properties oriented towards specific market segments. There were to be 12 special labels, although a property could only be awarded a maximum of four. The labels were: all-inclusive, business, casino, club, conference, diving club, family, health and fitness, heritage, seaside, senior citizens, small and friendly.

Since their announcement, special labels were always to be introduced "next year". This year the MTA has finally decided to abandon the concept of labels and has come up with Quality Certification. This will be introduced at the end of 2005 for implementation in 2006, Island Travel Trader Online has learnt.

Although still nebulous as to what exactly QC will entail, the current definition "involves certifying accommodation establishments that meet a series of criteria set by the Malta Tourism Authority.

"An establishment's quality level will be verified by 'mystery shopping' exercises carried out by specialised companies".

Gambling may replace airfares at Ryanair

Mosta, 08/11/05 - Ryanair believes revenue from in-flight gaming and gambling could eventually replace the need to charge airfares, chief executive Michael O'Leary said, Reuters reports.

Ryanair gave away about a quarter of its seats last year and that figure could rise to between 50 and 100 per cent depending on how ancillary revenues grow, O'Leary said.

"Ultimately entertainment will be where the money is," he told reporters, while answering questions about his plans to introduce gaming and gambling onboard, probably in 2007.

"It would transform ancillary revenues and profits," he said. "We'll probably announce a gambling partner (company) in the next two to three months."

Besides plans for in-flight gaming and gambling, the airline already generates ancillary income from services such as hotel bookings and car rental.

O'Leary has been talking about expanding in-flight entertainment on Ryanair for more than a year, during which time the airline introduced and then withdrew an onboard individual video and entertainment system.

Ryanair had hoped a quarter of its annual 35 million passengers would use the system, while only seven to eight percent did, O'Leary said.

He said the airline now has similar hopes for gaming and gambling, and sees potential revenues of "a multiple of euros per passenger."

Ryanair also announced it would offer two million free seats, a move designed to pressure full-service airlines such as British Airways whose fuel surcharges have widened the gap on fares between budget and traditional airlines.

Ryanair is fully hedged until the end of next March and has refused to impose a fuel surcharge, betting that low fares and even free tickets will draw passengers away from rivals.

"The more we can put pressure on high-priced airlines, the more we can convince them there's no point competing with us (on short-haul European routes)," O'Leary said.

Yesterday Ryanair posted a slightly bigger rise in second-quarter net profit than expected, but remained cautious in its outlook for the traditionally quieter winter season, knocking its shares.

Profit after tax in the three months to the end of September rose 16.5 per cent to €172.5 million from €148.1 million in the same period last year.

John Sheehan, analyst at NCB Stockbrokers, said the company had put in a strong performance in the first half of the year, demonstrating the success of its business model, but that it had taken a "pretty cautious outlook" for the rest of the year.

Ryanair repeated it expected to achieve significant increases in passenger volumes but that yields were set to be flat in the third quarter and five to 10 per cent lower in the fourth quarter.

"This winter we expect that there will be continued intense competition and there will be fewer low fare carriers in the market as higher fuel prices force more carriers out of the industry," O'Leary said.

Revenue for the second quarter rose 32 per cent to €541.5 million as Ryanair continued to expand its fleet and network.

Ryanair chief financial officer Howard Millar said the company was set to beat its target of carrying 35 million passengers in the year to end-March.

"We would appear to be well booked now at this stage for the third quarter and we're happy with our numbers," he said. "We still believe we're going to exceed our 35 million passengers which we said we'd do earlier this year."

Millar said deliveries of new aircraft from Boeing had been delayed by one month following industrial action at the US manufacturer.

Asked if there was any sign of weak European consumer sentiment slowing Ryanair's pace of growth, Millar said: "So far...we really haven't seen any sign of it."

As for ancillary revenues from sales of in-flight extras and other services, Ryanair's finance boss said he expected growth to continue to outstrip passenger growth this year and next after a rise of 36 per cent in the second quarter.

Most of the growth was coming from car rental, hotel bookings and travel insurance, the last of which he described as "growing very, very quickly".

Having hedged 90 per cent of its fuel costs until March 2006, the company said it had yet to take out any further insurance against high oil prices but that it was monitoring the market closely with a view to hedging its requirements for summer 2006.

"If we certainly saw $50 per barrel which is our current level of hedge - we're currently in at $49 - we'd certainly be very interested in hedging," Millar said.

Minister inaugurates hospitality and leisure show

Naxxar, 07/11/05 - The first Hospitality & Leisure Trade Fair was officially opened by the Minister for Tourism and Culture, Dr Francis Zammit Dimech, at the Trade Fair Grounds this morning.

Thousands of professionals from the hospitality and leisure sectors are expected to visit the fair, say the organisers. This specialised fair brings together more than 50 exhibitors who are suppliers to the industry.

There is also a programme of seminars, workshops and presentations spread over the show’s three days, including talks by regulators and other key market movers who will outline how entrepreneurs may take advantage of the opportunities which exist to help strengthen hospitality and leisure products and improve revenue flows.

The event organisers, Crest and Zaffarese Exhibition & Display, are committed to showcasing the ultimate resources for the tourism sector through this event and they have announced that the next edition of the fair is already being planned for 2007.

Belleair Holidays launches summer 2006 brochure

London, 07/11/05 - Air Malta-owned Belleair Holidays has launched its summer 2006 brochure which includes eight new properties, a new coach tour, a new self-drive tour, new family focus page and new wedding packages in both Malta and Sicily.

Other products that were successfully launched in the winter programme have been carried through into the summer. Overall brochure prices lead-in at £269 per person for seven nights' bed and breakfast accommodation at the three star Hotel Roma in Sliema, plus return flights.

Emma Yorke, agency sales manager for Belleair Holidays comments "We've added some great new products such as the coach tour and self-drive option for agents to sell alongside our traditional packages. We've also tried to put added focus on our family product by adding sections in the brochure which agents can use to quickly identify the most suitable choices for customers with children. We're confident agents will get behind our 2006 programme and we want them to start promoting it now to take advantage of the great offers we have."

New features of the brochure include a new escorted coach tour in Malta and Gozo that can be booked stand alone or added to a hotel-based holiday. This seven-night trip, on selected dates, highlights the best of both islands and costs from £499 per person including return flights, seven nights' b/b accommodation and transfers. Also new is a self-drive tour in Sicily for customers who like more freedom whilst away. This package includes return flights, car hire, two nights in Syracuse, one night in Agrigento, two nights in Palermo and two nights in Taormina.

To provide agents an easy to use section of the brochure a new page has been added to the front of the brochure highlighting what is available for families. Offers for single parent families are detailed alongside free child places and reduced prices for children. This page also lists all the hotels that feature kids clubs. Alongside this, on all the individual hotel pages a new section has been added that allows agents to quickly and easily identify what each property has for children such as cots, high chairs, kids clubs, play areas and children's pools.

Belleair have added eight new properties for summer 2006. The four star Sunny Coast Resort in Qawra is new plus two new apartments, the three star Villa Bronja Apartments and four star Villa Xemxija in Xlendi. Five new hotels have also been added in Sicily.

Belleair Holidays has also introduced new wedding packages, timed to catch the summer '06 wedding market. Those wanting to get married on the island can now book a variety of different packages. The bronze package leads in at £259 per person and includes a civil ceremony, wedding cake, sparkling wine for the bride and groom, transportation, a bouquet for her and buttonhole for him plus a special gift. Also new are wedding options in Sicily from just £999. This price includes a town hall registration fee and civil ceremony in Taormina, wedding co-ordination assistance, all documentation processing, transport on the day, interpreter and bouquet and buttonhole.

Government's 2006 budget favourable to tourism - MHRA

Advertising budget nearly on a par with Cyprus

Sliema, 02/11/05 - The Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association (MHRA) considers the government's budget for 2006 a positive one for the hospitality sector.

MHRA president Justin Zammit Tabona said that the measures announced in the budget for this sector should lead to continued improvement in both the international promotion of the islands and in the development of the product.

Zammit Tabona said that after the blow dealt to operators at the end of October - when electricity and water rates were increased by 55 per cent - plus the cost of living increase announced in the budget will further burden the costs of hotels and restaurants. The fact that increased oil prices are an inescapable reality of today's life "puts the onus on us all to expand economic operations to spread wider and therefore dilute the effect of such outside factors".

With tourism seen as an area of potential growth, said Zammit Tabona, the MHRA welcomed the allocation of Lm8 million to the MTA, "more so the redirecting of Lm600,000 previously allocated to administration expenses towards the marketing of Malta and Gozo, which is now increased to Lm6.2million. Equally positive is the allocation of Lm500,000 to back up the branding programme".

(Cyprus, which Malta considers its closest rival vis a vis tourism will be spending £11 million [Lm6.96mn] on advertising itself in eastern Europe, Scandinavia, the Middle East, as well as in the UK.)

Zammit Tabona said that branding was far from giving a label to Malta and Gozo. "The label had to reflect what our islands offer and, more important, we have to deliver what we promise. This is something for which all stakeholders in the industry - including the general public - have a responsibility.  Everyone who comes into contact with tourists - be it a hotelier, restaurateur, cab driver, or a person asked for directions - becomes the destination itself, and the way the contact with the tourist is handled results in a positive or negative perception of what Malta and the Maltese are".

The MHRA also "strongly supports the measures announced in respect of  illegal dumping and littering, and hopes that these will result in the building of a national conscience that dumping and littering is very much against our own health and economic interest".

The policy statements made in respect of the development of golf courses, improvement of beaches and the safeguarding of the islands' cultural heritage show that there is every intention to upgrade the product. "The MHRA appreciates the determination shown by the Prime Minister in exposing these issues, and looks forward to seeing these statements realised", added Zammit Tabona.

Air Malta's winter 2005/6 operations launched

Luqa, 01/11/05 - This winter Air Malta will be operating to 37 scheduled destinations. The airline is also including a number of intra-European frequencies on specific days of the week including Amsterdam-Brussels, Berlin-Hamburg, Lyon-Marseille, Munich-Frankfurt and an Oslo-Stockholm-Oslo service. These intra-European routes complement the Catania-London services introduced last year. The schedule, which runs until 25 March 2006, sees Air Malta operating 125 scheduled flights a week to points in Europe and North Africa.

Speaking at a press conference, Dominic Attard, KM's chief officer strategic planning said, "This winter we are maintaining a consistent schedule with convenient timings and in some instances, increased frequencies particularly on routes to the UK. In addition the airline is maintaining its diversification strategy with further intra-European services.

Air Malta also launched the winter edition of Flyaway Tours, its package holiday product, with "a choice of more than 20,000 hotels worldwide". This year's brochure "bursts with an extensive choice of accommodation throughout 22 destinations on Air Malta's network". Highlights include, free night offers in selected hotels, optional airport transfers in Malta and 1,000 free air miles with every package. New hotels have been added and a selection of excursions in each destination has been included. Other new products this winter include tickets to the English Premier League match tickets, theatre tickets, value for money mountain and ski packages in Italy, Bulgaria and Turkey, guided coach tours in Sicily, Germany, Morocco and Bulgaria, theme parks like Gardaland in Italy and Disneyland in Paris.

"This season Air Malta will also be continuing with its fleet replacement project", announced Attard. He said that two Boeing B-737-300 aircraft will be leaving Air Malta's fleet by the end of the year, reducing the remaining Boeing fleet to only three copies. "Two brand new Airbus A320 will be joining Air Malta's fleet in January and May 2006. By then Air Malta will have 10 new Airbus A320 or A319 aircraft out of its new 12 aircraft fleet placed in 2003. It is expected that the fleet rollover plan will be completed in March 2007 by which time another two new Airbus A320s will be integrated into an all Airbus fleet", continued Attard.

Star Cruises to homeport liner in Valletta

London, 15/11/05 - Star Cruises of Malaysia will have a ship based in Malta for the summer 2006 season. Currently sailing from Mumbai, India, the 1,480-passenger capacity SuperStar Libra will reposition to the homeport of Valletta next June.

SuperStar Libra's season in India ends in May 2006. To dovetail with a new eastern Mediterranean deployment, her season in India will be extended from end April to late May. SuperStar Libra will then proceed with her relocation cruise on 21 May from Mumbai with showcases at Dubai and Bahrain before arriving at her homeport of Valletta on 6 June.

"Going forward, as part of our fleet deployment and product development strategy, we have identified SuperStar Libra as the vessel to be based in the Mediterranean and marks the expansion of the Star Cruises brand into further international markets backed by the Asian-style hospitality that we are well-known for", said Chong Chee-Tut, Star Cruises' chief operating officer.

"The summer 2006 deployment will offer more interesting and different itineraries and from an international point of view, Star Cruises will also be selling the SuperStar Libra Eastern Mediterranean cruises in its core markets in Asia-Pacific and the Middle East in addition to the European market. This is part of Star Cruises' ongoing strategy to contribute to the growth of the international cruise market by increasing the awareness of cruising in the Mediterranean to a wider base", added Chong.

SuperStar Libra will be the first ship in the Star Cruises Asian fleet to operate in Europe. Most cruises will depart from the homeport of Malta.

"The decision to home port the ship in Malta stems from the conducive port conditions and strategic location for Star Cruises to plan interesting and appealing itineraries in the eastern Mediterranean".

Ports of call on the new Mediterranean cruises are scheduled to include Rome (Civitavecchia), La Spezia (for Florence and Pisa), Olbia, Naples, Venice and Messina in Italy; Athens (Piraeus), Santorini, Corfu and Crete in Greece; Valetta; Istanbul and Izmir in Turkey; Dubrovnik in Croatia and Alexandria in Egypt.

Cruises available in the eastern Mediterranean will range from seven to 12-nights and Star Cruises is currently working closely with travel partners SMS Travel & Tourism - its Malta agent - to ensure these new cruises are on sale from early 2006.

In line with all other Star Cruises ships, the SuperStar Libra will feature an Asian flavour on board. In addition to Asian restaurants, the ship will retain the high standards of Asian warmth and hospitality in all aspects of service. The ship features a range of leisure facilities including swimming pool and whirlpools, outdoor golf driving range, basketball court, jogging track, fully equipped gym with sauna, beauty salon, children's play room and karaoke lounge.

The SuperStar Libra was transferred to the Star Cruises fleet from the NCL fleet in summer 2005. The move was the first of five further mid-size ship transfers from NCL to Star Cruises. NCL and Orient Lines are part of the Star Cruises Group.

Formerly known as Norwegian Sea under the NCL brand, SuperStar Libra is a 42,000 gross tonne ship with 740 cabins with a passenger capacity of 1,480 lower berths. Measuring 216 metres long and 28 metres wide, she has eight restaurants and bars, seven entertainment outlets, meeting facilities and a host of sports, health and recreational amenities.

Malta and Powerboat P1 sign three-year race deal

London, 15/11/05 - The Maltese islands will once again be the host venue for the first event of the 2006 Powerboat P1 World Championship, taking place over the weekend of 12 to 14 May. This follows the signing of a three-year agreement between KBL Powerboat Management, promoters of P1, and the Malta Tourism Authority in which Malta, an appointed P1 signature venue, will host two rounds of the 2006, 2007 and 2008 UIM World Championships. Incorporated within the Grand Prix of Malta will be a round-island speed record challenge.

Malta has become one of the most popular venues in the P1 calendar, highly acclaimed by competitors, teams, organisers and the international media.

Martin McDonald, commercial director of KBL Powerboat Management, said: "We are delighted to have secured this three year arrangement with the Malta Tourism Authority. It brings together two innovative thinking organisations committed to promoting the Maltese islands on an international stage. For the MTA this initiative complements its existing destination marketing programmes and allows Malta to utilise P1's global audience to generate positive media exposure whilst attracting quality tourism and business to its islands.