United Travel Malta

Filming for Michael Bay's latest film wrapped up just a few weeks ago. Yesterday we got a glimpse of the full title and the first trailer. I must admit, I never thought that Malta could become famous for being Benghazi, but after watching the trailer and listening to an interview with actor John Krasinski and producer Scott Gardenhour I feel proud that Malta played a part in helping them tell the true story of the attack on a U.S. compound in Libya back in 2012. The film tells the story of how the security team struggled to make sense out of the chaos.  Actor John Krasinski seems to have been mesmerised by the beauty of Malta, especially by our capital city Valletta. In an interview with a local media channel Television Malta (TVM), Krasinski said the following about Valletta: "Waking up there every morning was such an incredible treat because you leave this pretty wild set and you'd wake up in the beautifully quiet, old historic city and it's totally inspiring. I...

Last May, together with the Malta Tourism Authority and Hilton Malta, we hosted a Malta Experience and Showcase trip for Delion, one of our clients, and their key accounts. Paul Harvey, the Deputy Editor for M&IT, also joined us on this trip so that he too could get an experience as to what Malta has to offer MICE clients.  The trip included an iPad City Trail in Valletta, a day charter of a private luxury yacht, a selection of different types of vehicles including a karozzin (traditional Maltese horse drawn carriage), a vintage bus and vintage cars. The group were also treated to delicious meals at Guze in Valletta, the Gazebo at Hilton Malta, Ta' Frenc in Gozo & Caviar and Bull at the Corinthia.  Paul wrote an article in this month's M&IT magazine discussing what Malta has to offer (if you would like to read it, it can be found on pages 61 & 62). Throughout the article he talks about the different things he experienced while on this trip, includ...

United Travel have been the local partners for Tauck Travel for the past 20 years. Tauck is one of the leading tour operators for high-end, escorted travel with over 130 programs in over 60 countries worldwide.  When we received an email back in March telling us that Robin Tauck was organising a birthday cruise for her friend and family and that she wanted it to start from Malta we felt honoured and excited by the prospect of helping her celebrate her 60th birthday!  Tauck friends and family arrived from all over the world including the USA, Egypt, Greece, France, Australia and Iran. In the morning of the 29th June there was a pre-arranged half day tour organised for those who arrived early; this included a panoramic tour of Malta visiting some of the villages in the centre of the island, as well as a short walking tour in Mdina which included a wine-tasting session.  The guests were then expected to start embarking the Le Ponant in the afternoon, when they were ...

Malta, only 316 square kilometres in size, and home to an impressive 9 UNESCO World Heritage Sites. OK, so if you visit the UNESCO World Heritage Convention website you will find only 3 properties on the Maltese Islands inscribed on the World Heritage List - these are the City of Valletta, the Hal Saflieni Hypogeum, and the Megalithic Temples of Malta. However, under the title of "Megalithic Temples of Malta" one can find seven temples around Malta and Gozo, so that makes the total of 9 sites in all. The oldest of all these temples are the two  Ġgantija temples that can be found on the island of Gozo. These temples are renowned for their gigantic Bronze Age structures. Dating from around 3600 to 3200 BC, they are the oldest, free-standing monuments in the world and are evidence that Gozo was inhabited for at least 1000 years before the Egyptians built the pyramids in Giza. Due to the gigantic dimensions of the monuments, locals believed that the temples were built by...

In Malta Summer means days at the beach, and nights out partying… We literally find any excuse to party, whether it is a team winning some championship, a bank holiday or a religious village festa we just love to get together and celebrate! Over the past few years, Malta has gone from just being a place where old people go on holiday, to one of the best nightlife destinations in the Mediterranean. Most clubs have free entrances, and drinks are relatively cheap making Malta an inexpensive clubbing destination. Add this factor, to the fact that most of the top 100 DJs choose to perform in Malta and you have a recipe for the perfect club scene. One of the highlights of Malta’s party calendar is the Isle of MTV concert – MTV’s biggest, free, open air concert in Europe. This concert has been taking place in Malta for the past nine years and manages to attract thousands of local and foreign music lovers every year. Acts that have performed at Isle of MTV include Nicole Scherzinger, E...

Summer is just around the corner and coming from a Mediterranean island our summer holidays revolve around the sea. Whether it's cooling off in the crystal clear Mediterranean Sea, enjoying a BBQ on the beach, or watching sunset and taking in the beautiful views, we always want to know that the sea we are swimming in is safe and clean.  In a study published last week by the European Environment Agency and the European Commission, it was found that 95% of the monitored bathing sites within the European Union met the minimum requirements for bathing water and out of that 95%, 83% met the more stringent "excellent" level.  The study compares the quality of bathing water from over 21,000 coastal and inland bathing sites across the EU, Switzerland and Albania. Depending on the levels of bacteria detected (which include bacteria as a result of pollution from sewage or livestock), the bathing water quality is then classified as "excellent", "sufficient...

M alta offers unique filming locations and has hosted foreign film productions since the 1920s. This can be attributed to the islands' breathtaking coastlines, beautiful natural light and stunning architecture which allow it to double for a variety of locations from ancient Rome to 19th Century Marseilles and Beirut in the 1960's. Other bonuses in Malta's favour are the number of financial incentives available, the fact that most people speak English, good airline connections with major European hubs, long hours of daylight, as well as the talented human resources both in the fields of acting  and crew members.  Directors that have chosen Malta as a backdrop to their films include Steven Spielberg, Ridley Scott, Wolfgang Petersen, Angelina Jolie and most recently Michael Bay amongst others. This means that Malta has serviced some of the most famous blockbusters ever produced in film history, as well as a number of other independent film and TV productions.   A few of...

This week United Travel, together with the Malta Tourism Authority, Emirates and Hilton Malta, hosted an educational  familiarisation trip for eight MICE travel managers and event management companies. Despite the group only being here for just four nights we wanted to try and showcase as much of the Maltese Islands as we could fit into the limited time. The group visited a number of hotels and venues, including the Mediterranean Conference Centre, the Grand Hotel Excelsior, Smart City, Palazzo Parisio, Limestone Heritage, Palazzo Depiro and Xara Palace amongst others. However, their favourite activities were the following:  A Visit to a Gozitan Farm During a visit to Gozo, the group visited Rikardu's Farm - a typical Gozitan farm which is well-known for their delicious goats cheese known by the locals as Gbejna  meaning "cheeselet". On the farm they were introduced to the farm's herd of goats and even had the opportunity to milk the goats themselves! ...

The Ministry for Tourism and the Malta Tourism Authority will once again join forces to organise the 14th edition of the Malta International Fireworks Festival. The festival forms part of the anniversary celebrations of Malta's accession to the European Union and the colourful spectacle annually attracts thousands of locals and tourists alike. Following the positive feedback received after last year's edition, this year's events shall once again commence in the charming fishing village of Marsaxlokk on Saturday 25th April 2015. The event will continue on Thursday, 30th April against the magnificent and unique back drop that is Valletta's Grand Harbour. The closing display, which will consist of a Pyromusical show, will be held on Saturday, 02nd May and can be viewed from the tourist hub of Bugibba. The festival has rightfully earned the title of "International" as it has attracted pyrotechnic companies from Malta as well as from further afield. The compet...

The lovely little rock that we like to call home has featured on two very different ranking lists in the past week that make me feel proud to say I live in Malta. The first list Malta featured in was in Beatport's list of " 13 Mind-Blowing Festival Destinations You’ll Never Want to Leave ". This list has been put together by the Beatportal staff and includes a list of what they claim are the "wildest locales around the world". The festivals that feature in their lists have line-ups that would please any festival goer, but each festival destination has its own original element that makes them different from all the others in the list and includes countries as different as Japan, Switzerland and Bulgaria.  Malta placed in 9th place and features in this list with Annie Mac's first edition of Lost & Found, a festival that will be taking place in Malta over the Easter weekend (03rd - 05th April 2015). According to the event's official website ...