In this context, Travel2latam spoke with Christophe Berger, director of Visit Malta Incentives and Meetings.
Could you give our audience a brief presentation?
Yes, I am Christophe Berger, I deal with the MICE segment, we promote the destination for incentives and meetings. And we are here at IBTM like every year, with around 20 partners between hotels and DMC. Destiny predicts a very good year in 2024, since we are closing 2023 at an excellent level. We are very happy about that.
What does participating in this fair mean to you?
Participation in IBTM is crucial because we connect our partners with buyers. Furthermore, it is a representation of the destination, because we show all the different options; hotels, product experiences and everything it has to offer. This show is a great show, and we are probably considering extending it to IBTM America in the next few years.
With what objectives do you come to this exhibition?
Our objective as a tourism board is to show the destination, to make sure that our partners are very busy with the business that arrives, to also show it to our representative in Spain, but not only in Spain, but in the European and American market as well. So for us it is very important to be here, to be present and to make sure that people consider Malta for their next event.
How have you been promoting yourself and what is your plan for next season?
We've been promoting ourselves digitally, we also do a lot of fan and press trips. We give them an idea of the destination and we also carry out different activities abroad. So the important thing is that we are always at the forefront of promotion. Our goal next year is to be more selective in our market, perhaps attracting a little more exclusive tourism. We are thinking about incentive trips, which is very important for Malta. And then the conferences and meetings. In short, we give a big push for families and individuals to stay and have a great time in Malta. So, really and truly, next year we expect a fantastic performance.