| Journal: TWUK | Section: |
| Title: | Issue Date: 05/06/00 |
| Author: | Page Number: 38 |
| Copyright: Other |
Multi-centres by Brian Richards
Making the most of heat and history
Try adding Tunisia to a Malta package
MALTA’S strong sense of history and Tunisia’s beach resorts can be combined to produce an alternative twin-centre as both are within close proximity of each other.But not all specialist operators are convinced of their potential as a standard package. However, this can easily be arranged on a tailor-made basis.
Cadogan and Prestige feature both and use scheduled flights so they have the flexibility to combine the destinations. But neither draws clients’ attention to a Malta-Tunisia twin- centre. Cadogan managing director Gary David said:”It’s practical but not popular. The differences are not big enough – there’s a wider variance between Malta and Gozo than between Malta and Tunisia.
“If we could do Malta and Morocco, that would work, as Morocco offers something completely different to Malta. But a Malta-Morocco twin-centre is logistically impossible.”
Though Malta-Tunisia requests are limited, tailor-making a twin-centre doesn’t present any problems as Cadogan’s sister carrier GB Airways serves both Tunis and Malta, said David. But he added: “People who go to Tunisia generally want sun, sand and sea at a fairly cheap price. Tunisia has lots of nice beaches and people who want a beach holiday will go just to Tunisia.”
The resort of Hammamet, 45 mins from Tunis-Carthage Airport, would be the ideal twin-centre partner to Malta, said David. Other Tunisian resorts featured by Cadogan are Port el Kantaoui, Sousse and Monastir.
Cadogan is pushing Malta-Sicily twin-centres following its appointment as general sales agent for Italian tour operator Valtur, which offers the all-inclusive Pollina holiday village on Sicily’s north coast. Prestige director John Dixon said his company rarely received requests for a Malta-Tunisia quote but saw no problem in assembling a package for those keen to combine the two.
“We’ve never brochured a Malta-Tunisia twin-centre and I’m not sure it would appeal to our clientele but it could easily be tailor-made to request,” he said.
“Malta and Tunisia is not a pairing people automatically think of. Tunisia has wonderful beaches, while Malta is very English still – it would be easy to design an attractive package.”
Prestige offers a selection of four and five-star Hammamet hotels that lend themselves to a Malta-Tunisia product,” said Dixon.
Panorama features Malta and Tunisia in both its summer and winter brochures and will tailor-make twin-centres using Air Malta or Tunisair flights between Malta and Tunis.
Sales and marketing director Martin Young said: “Malta and Tunisia complement each other with their contrasting strengths – Malta is strong on history while Tunisia has great beaches.
“However, there’s no appreciable demand for such twin-centre holidays – probably because the cost of a scheduled return air ticket between the two countries makes the price pretty unattractive.”
Belleair brochured Malta-Tunisia twin-centres four years ago but found the productdidn’t work and dropped it but retained Malta-Sicily options.
General manager Martin Zahra said:”Combining Malta and Tunisia was easy and fares weren’t a problem but transfer times in Tunisia proved a deterrent for twin-centre holidays.
“However, our Malta-Sicily programme has gone from strength to strength. It sells well year-round – usually a week in each in summer and shorter durations in winter.
“Our programme focuses on Taormina, helped by the frequency of scheduled Air Malta flights to Catania. There are fewer flights into Palermo, so our business to Cefalu is summer based.”
This summer, Belleair offers three Malta-Sicily combinations. “People usually take our recommendations, though we can tailor-make other hotels and durations,” said Zahra.
Belleair’s most requested featured hotel combination is the four-star Victoria in Sliema, Malta, and three-star Ariston in Taormina, Sicily.
The four-star Paradiso and three-star Villa Riis, both in Taormina, also appear in twin-centre options.
Malta specialists including Belleair, Sunspot and Gozo Holidays offer Malta-Gozo and Malta-Comino twin-centres. Most Malta-Gozo packages now include helicopter transfers.
Tunisia: holidays combining the country with Malta are often tailor-made
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Sicily: Taormina is popular with tourists