Malta’s recent fourth annual Knighthood Experience was used as a showcase for the country’s assets as a conference destination. The event, which, this year, took place on 15-18 March, is designed to immerse members of the international conference and incentive travel trade in an authentic Malta experience, providing them with a taste of the array of the options available on the Maltese Islands.

Minister for Tourism and Culture, Francis Zammit Dimech, who was delivering the the event's opening address at the Museum of Archaeology, said that culture was a mainstay of Malta’s tourism offering and he hoped that the inauguration of this event at this venue would prove a teaser to what Malta has to offer business tourism, in the historical and cultural heritage. He added that the image Malta wanted to portray was one of heritage, hospitality and diversity.

Dimech: Cultural heritage is key

Dimech stated that growth in Malta’s conference and incentive travel sector has been driven by good quality accommodation, appropriate venues, quality service and a variety of activities. “The excellent five and four-Star hotels that were constructed in the past years, the continuous strengthening of our infrastructure, and the many embellishment projects are added attributes,” he added.

Data published by Malta’s National Statistics Office for 2006 show that business tourism for the country was up 7.1% from 2005, standing at 101,639 delegates.  Total earnings from conference and incentive travel business in 2006 is estimated at Lm33 million (euro76,869,322).

Dimech said he was confident that the tourism segment will continue to grow in a sustainable way.

Confex sees offical MFCC launch
To underline its commitment to the growth of business tourism, this year's International Confex event and Earl's Court, London, saw the official launch of the Malta Fairs and Convention Centre (MFCC) – the island’s first state-of-the-art event space for international exhibitions, conferences, meetings and events.

Malta Fairs and Convention Centre can seat up to 10,000

The venue offers a flexible and impressive event space, with a maximum capacity of around 22,000 standing (10,000 seated). With 6,500m² of clear floorspace in the main arena, the convention centre has been designed to hold exhibitions, conferences and concerts, with quick turn-arounds for organisers, allowing a truly exceptional resource for corporate events. Based in Ta’Qali, in close proximity to the island’s business centre, airport, five-star hotels and beautiful beaches makes the MFCC a venue surrounded by purpose built and natural facilities.

In addition to the main arena, the venue has 500m² of additional and adjacent space for auxiliary structures, and a 17.5m apex. MFCC has already demonstrated its ability to host events, exhibitions, conferences, gala dinners, live TV talkshows, indoor sports displays and internationally acclaimed concerts.

The convention centre has excellent facilities, with ample foyers, catering tailored to your event, whether it is a public show or banquet, areas for organisers and backstage production and experienced in-house personnel dedicated to the success of your event.

Ruben Caruana, business development director of MFCC commented: “This is an exciting time for Malta with its first major conference and exhibition facility open and taking bookings from clients based around the world. We can now offer everything the larger corporate destinations can and want people to visit Malta to enjoy our beautiful country, as well as conducting business.”