Cheap International Flights - Destination Malta

National Statistics Office figures for September showed that arrivals were 17.8 per cent up on last year. But also in hotel rates and occupancies, with increases not only in terms of arrivals, the figures show that 2007 is turning out to be the best year for tourism in Malta in at least the last six years, yes. So much so that some tourists have had to be sent to Gozo - and the odd one even as far as Sicily; hotels are full! Malta tourism is booming.

He could think of worse problems, indeed. Josef Formosa Gauci, " laughs the President of the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association, it's a question of sorting out overbookings, but now, the problem was how to fill rooms; "Until then.

Figures are constantly being churned out and they keep on looking good. With August being one of the best months in the history of its tourism, the first nine months of 2007 have seen an overall increase of 7.6 per cent in tourists visiting Malta, year on year.

Also being expected, therefore, increases over the normally quieter shoulder months are. A Norwegian airline from April and the possibility of another from Madrid, which stopped its operation in October and is scheduled to start again in April, clickair, german Wings, including Ryanair, the rest of the winter is envisaging a good rise in seat capacity- in excess of 10 per cent - partly resulting from new low-cost routes offering cheap flights to Malta. While figures for November are also showing increases, with Malta International Airport figures for that month showing a 16 per cent increase in passenger movements over the same period last year, the best isn't over yet positive results have carried on up to the end of October, indeed.

Encouraging all players in the industry to continue to work together to face challenges ahead, mr Formosa Gauci is "very satisfied with the turnaround we have seen although he insists on the "need to keep our feet on the ground", needless to say.

But the country would definitely not be holding back on working to maintain the levels achieved and aiming for growth in the shoulder and winter months. It would be impossible to continue seeing the same rate of growth as Malta has its limits, of course. A highly dynamic industry and things change constantly, after all, tourism is.

Better beach facilities and the restoration of Maha's magnificent bastions, for example, and be poured into, the Association welcomes the fact that EU funding is now going to be used to continue to upgrade the product. . Formosa Gauci - and it is probably this attitude that contributes to improvement. "But it is an area where it is never enough" says Mr . The state of the product is also a critical aspect of the industry and the MHRA acknowledges that quite a bit has been done on that front too.

With EUR24.5 million going to the Malta Tourism Authority to continue its work, it voted a record sum of EUR39.1 million to the industry. The government's budget for 2008 has allocated an extra EUR11.6 million to improve the tourism product.

He says he knows only too well that "now we should and shall go for further growth and work together in that direction to achieve as much in 2008 and beyond, while expressing his satisfaction with the results. The MTA and the stakeholders, but Tourism and Culture Minister Francis Zammit Dimech attributes the success achieved in 2007 to the proactive collaboration of the government.

" And the organisation of a wide array of cultural and entertainment events that render Malta a unique experience for the Maltese and tourists alike, increased investment to market Malta more effectively overseas; and tour operators; including Air Malta, while keeping in mind the interests of legacy carriers, we took three conscious decisions and are reaping the positive results: the introduction of low-cost carriers in a big way, "On our part.

Brian Bartolo, product, marketing & said its General Manager, where it is offering the island as the best short-break alternative, running successful campaigns in the core European markets, air Malta is focusing on its marketing campaigns and aggressively promoting value-for-money travel opportunities. And the national airline is doing its part too.

Mr Bartolo notes, air Malta's recent advertising campaigns have resulted in a market increase in inbound travel bookings to Malta in the previously quiet November and December periods, germany and Benelux, in France Italy. Which has been running since the last week of October and is presenting an unbeatable travel opportunity to incoming UK tourists, it has just launched Malta the Break Escape, in the UK.

Meaning its market reach now covers every Italian domestic airport, with whom Air Malta code shares on Rome Fiumicino, the latest addition to the list of code shares was Air One. Seeking code-share agreements with global carriers - a key investment in connectivity by the Maltese national airline, air Malta is an active network airline.

American and Asian, as well as offline European, with connectivity to every German regional airport, the successful code-share agreement signed with Lufthansa in November 2006 allows both carriers to offer two daily non-stop flights to Frankfurt and a daily flight to Munich.

Via Munich, there are non-stop daily services from Malta to Washington Dulles International Airport, through the code-share agreement with Lufthansa. The code- share agreement has also been extended to the Scandinavian cities of Oslo and Stockholm, recently, adding that, mr Bartolo says, which initially was solely operative on the direct Malta-Frankfurt and Malta-Munich routes is now covering every German regional route, the code-share agreement. With a positive direct impact on the tourism industry, the move has generated substantial new traffic into Malta.

These developments are extensively increasing the accessibility to the Malteseislands from major European and international gateways.