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UK Media Boost For Malta Holiday Island 2007 Bookings

After some years of a declining touristMalta  is  no  coincidence.'
market, the Mediterranean island of Malta is
seeing a revival in her fortunes as aMore  TV  Coverage
mainstream  tourist  destination.
But there could be a bigger boost for Malta
The prospects for the island have improvedthis fall autumn if discussions concerning a
dramatically over the last year. At one pointBritish  TV  soap  comes  to  fruition.
in 2006 there was speculation that a major
British tour operator was considering takingLocal media in Malta reported recently that
the holiday island out of its brochures, buttalks were taking place with Britain's
this year, having stared at the possibilityfavourite TV soap, Coronation Street, about
of slipping to a niche travel destination,filming  an  episode  on  the  island.
Malta is enjoying an upswing in visitor
numbers.Coronation Street is the world's longest
running soap, and first broadcast in 1960.
The danger of slipping to a niche travelViewing figures in the UK regularly top ten
status, and the subsequent economicmillion viewers an episode, and as recently
consequences for the Malta tourist industry,as  April  this  year reached twelve million.
is thought to be part of the reason why the
island was galvanised into finally accepting'If it were to happen,'comment the Malta
low cost flights from her main UK and Irishtravel guide, 'It could be a major boost for
markets, with Ryanair starting flights fromthe winter season and for summer 2008 too. A
London in November last year, and this Marchhalf hour episode on Malta will reach more
from  Dublin.people over a longer period of time than a
tourist authority could hope to with a series
In addition to the new Ryanair services, theof twenty or thirty second advertisements, it
island's own airline, Air Malta, has run awould be worth millions in equivalent
successful campaign of its own for cheapadvertising.'
flights to Malta, and from May launched a new
route from Liverpool to Malta. FurtherIn addition to reaching Malta's prime UK
visitors are expected from Spain and Germany,market, additional benefit for the Malta
following agreements with airlines to provideholiday industry would come from Canada and
cheap Malta flights outside of Malta'sAustralia, where the show is aired some weeks
traditional  market.after  the  UK.
The extra visitor numbers are being boostedIn conclusion, the holidays guide say that
by more media coverage in Malta's traditionalincreasing and sustainable tourism for Malta
core market of the United Kingdom, with dailyhas to come from repeat visitors who enjoy
and Sunday newspapers featuring Malta more astheir first visit to the island, with good
a  suggested  location  for  a  holiday.hotels  in  Malta  being  a  key  factor.
According to UK based travel site for Malta'If Malta can achieve more frequent mentions
the number of enquiries from Britishin the UK national press, travel programmes
journalists asking for information aboutand other media it will influence the buying
Malta in the first three months of 2007 is uppublic when it comes to deciding where to go
significantly  from  2006.on holiday. The more Malta is mentioned the
more likely it is that the island will be
'Malta seems to have come back on travelconsidered. We don't expect Malta to start
writers' radar', they say, 'We've beenreaching top ten favourite destination polls,
pleasantly surprised at the number ofor to become as related to holidays as
national newspapers asking us for quotes. TheMajorca is for example - but to get somewhere
same has happened with journalist enquiriesclose to what Cyprus has achieved could be an
for property in Malta, showing perhaps thatachievable aim.
increased media interest for holidays in



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