July 2007
IoH elects new president • World Aviation's Cassar given top down under job • La Quinta and Starwood sign service deal • MTA awards tourism-themed projects in secondary schools • EC nominated for two awards • MTA's Micallef awarded French Ordre du Mérite • Corinthia Hotels appoints new sales and marketing team

IoH elects new president

Mosta, 26/07/07 - Following its recent AGM, Tony Coleiro was elected president of the Institute of Hospitality - Malta, formerly the Hotel and Catering International Management Association (HCIMA).

The IoH's executive committee for 2007 comprises Julian Zarb as deputy chairman, Chris Camilleri as general secretary, Alfred Formosa as finance officer, Karl Grech as business development officer, Joe Warrington and Tonio Micallef are members.

World Aviation's Cassar given top down under job

Mosta, 26/07/07 Australian businessman with Malta links Leslie Cassar has been appointed chairman of Tourism New South Wales (NSW). The appointment was recently made by state Minister for Tourism and Housing Matt Brown.

Cassar comes from Maltese ancestry and is "very passionate about Malta and all those things which are associated with the islands". Last year he was bestowed with the merit award of Malta's Gieh ir-Republika. Previously he was awarded the Australia Medal. 

He has held senior positions in Qantas and for 25 years he was joint managing director of Australia's largest travel group. In 1989 he set up, along with Air Malta, World Aviation Systems that provided representation for foreign airlines in Malta. Recently the joint venture was renamed the World Aviation Group and embraces various activities including Air Malta's call centre, business process outsourcing services and international airline representation.

La Quinta and Starwood sign service deal

Birkirkara, 26/07/07 - Tony Coleiro, CEO and managing partner of La Quinta (Malta), has signed an agreement with Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, appointing La Quinta authorised sales agent for packaged travel services.

La Quinta is an international consultancy network that offers solutions to optimise company performance.

MTA awards tourism-themed projects in secondary schools

Valletta, 26/07/07 - The Choice programme for the scholastic year 2006/7, organised by the Malta Tourism Authority's industry HR development unit, came to a close recently with the awarding of prizes and certificates to secondary school students who participated. The awards ceremony was held at the Corinthia Palace Hotel.

The main objective of the Choice programme is to heighten tourism awareness and promote careers in the industry amongst secondary school students. Choice has been running for a number of years with more than 10,000 students participating in the programme. This consists of specialised motivational talks from trade representatives who present an overview of the industry, the opportunities for prospective candidates and an on-site tour, either at a hotel, restaurant, travel agency, heritage site or the airport. Students from each of the 27 schools participating in this year's programme, were encouraged to take part in a competition by submitting a tourism-related project associated with heritage, hospitality and diversity.

Mark Cilia and Mark Saliba - from the Archbishop's Seminary in Rabat with their project called A cocktail of diversity - won the first prize, an educational trip to Budapest sponsored by Corinthia Hotels International and Air Malta.

The second prize, a weekend break in a local hotel, also sponsored by Corinthia Hotels International, was awarded to Dylan Said and James Camilleri from De La Salle College in Cospicua. Their project was called Destination Malta.

The third prize consisted of a set of limited edition books and was won by Maria Formosa, Sarah Farrugia and Shelley Aquilina from the Convent of the Sacred Heart in St Julian's, with their project titled A taste of Maltese cuisine.

EC nominated for two awards

St Julian's, 26/07/07 - EC, a locally-owned of English language school, has been nominated for the Language Travel Star Awards 2007. The awards are organised by Language Travel magazine.

The awards, now in their second year, "recognise organisation's excellence in business performance" says Language Travel. All entries are voted by of agents, who place confidential votes for their preferred 'star' from hundreds of language schools and educational centres.

This year EC has been nominated for two categories the 'star chain language school' and 'star innovation'.

For the category 'chain language school (schools which have five or more centres) EC was one of five schools out of a total of 27 nominations to be short listed for this award. Andrew Mangion, EC's group CEO and managing director said: "I am particularly proud of this achievement as the votes come directly from our partners. This is a clear sign of approval of the great work done at our schools in Malta, the UK and South Africa as well as our head office in Malta."

In the category of 'star innovation' EC received the nomination for its new programme 'Explore China'. This programme is based in Beijing where students learn Mandarin.

Winners of each category will be announced at an awards ceremony to be held at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London on 1 September.

MTA's Micallef awarded French Ordre du Mérite

Zebbug, 18/07/07 - Dominic Micallef, head of the history and culture segment at the Malta Tourism Authority (MTA), has been awarded the title of Chevalier de l' Ordre du Mérite of the French Republic.

Jean-Marc Rives, the French ambassador to Malta, conferred the honour on Micallef during a ceremony held at the former's residence in Zebbug on 10 July.

In a speech Rives described Micallef as the 'pilgrim' of Maltese tourism in France, as an excellent communicator and as a dedicated promoter of Malta's artistic, historical and cultural heritage.

The Ordre du Mérite, established by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963, is the second most prestigious distinction after the Légion d' Honneur. It is awarded for special achievement in political, military or civil affairs. This honour was awarded to Micallef for contributing to the development of Franco-Maltese relations in the tourism and cultural fields.

For more than 11 years from 1991 to 2002 Dominic Micallef was director of the NTOM/MTA office in Paris. During this time the French market experienced a sharp increase of more than 150 per cent. In 2003 Micallef was appointed regional director for Italy, France and Spain, based in Milan.

Corinthia Hotels appoints new sales and marketing team

Floriana, 18/07/07 - Six months into his role as the new CEO of Corinthia Hotels International (CHI), Tony Potter has announced a new sales and marketing structure for the Malta-based management company that operates the Corinthia, Wyndham and Ramada Plaza brands across Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

Based at the company's headquarters in Floriana the key sales and marketing team - all internal promotions - is composed of: CHI director of marketing is Vanessa Coleiro; CHI director of sales and key accounts is Vivienne Willison; Manuel Briffa as CHI director of public relations; director of outbound sales and Events@Corinthia is Shawn Pisani whilst the new director of revenue at CHI is Chris Scicluna.

Another internal appointment was that of Joseph Cilia as director of management information systems - CHI. In addition to managing that department, Cilia will be working with the sales and marketing team to develop the various brands' information systems.