A spring offensive and a fresh advertising campaign by Malta's national airline has seen her bounce back to popularity among holiday makers flying to the Mediterranean island for the peak holiday months this year.
Malta also has good weather during the winter months, and as well as traditional one and two week holidays, many retired people visit the island for three or four months, renting an apartment or villa, with some taking advantage of long term hotel discounts, which in turn boost the occupancy levels of the hotels in Malta over the year as a whole.
And it is while these were being booked that the airline saw a surge of interest in booking a flight to Malta late last year along with early bookings from Easter right through to the end of the summer.
The airline saw good results from the advertising from the UK - Malta's traditional market - but also Ireland, Italy, France, Austria and Germany.
While Malta will be pleased to note an 8 per cent increase in flight bookings from her core UK market, the importance of diversification and not relying on one market is understood, and a jump of 18 per cent in passenger bookings from Italy will be welcomed, especially in the town of St Julian's - a favourite among Italian vistors to Malta.
Included among the airline's advertising campaign in the UK was a 12 weeks campaign with satellite broadcaster Sky Television and on their internet site, while in the printed media full colour page advertisements were carried in the quality press such as The Times.
In France and Germany a combination of print and traditional media were employed by the Malta airline to get the Malta flights message across, while in Italy part of the campaign included for the first time text messages to established customer mobile phones.
The possibilities of the airline having a good overall 2008 are high, with their own advertising producing a boost - but also a rise in the number of tourists taking a holiday in Malta rose last year and a further increase is thought to be likely for 2008.
Last year was a bit of a turning year for Malta, with previously poor publicity turning to good press reports in the media overseas. Both Germany and the UK have seen new low cost flight operators sucessfully applying to fly to Malta, and the increase in tourism can largely be put down to them.
The good news for Malta is that despite the increase in the number of tourists arriving on the island via the low cost flights, the occupancy levels of hotels has increased from basic to 5 star, showing that Malta is appealing to markets across demographic ranges among those who take flights.
A choice of holiday firms who include Malta holiday offers is available at yourmalta.com and for tourists considering accommodation and which hotels to choose a range of cheap hotels has been reviewed.
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