Travelsmart
Malta Tourism Authority has appointed Tolene Van der Merwe as the organisation’s new UK & Ireland director.
Van der Merwe’s new role will focus on leading a London-based team to further develop and cultivate partnerships with tour operators, airlines, travel agents and niche specialists.
At the same time, she will be reaching out to the UK public with PR and marketing initiatives to keep Malta and Gozo on top of mind and holiday destinations of choice.
Accounting for a quarter of Malta’s tourism arrivals, the UK market is the largest for the destination and Van der Merwe and her team will continue to grow arrival numbers through diversification of on island experiences and strategies.
She began her career in the tourism industry at Exclusive Getaways, a luxury South African operator.
Van der Merwe later joined London based tour operator African Affair Travel furthering her specialism in African tourism product before founding Boutique Travel Marketing, where she spent seven years growing the hotel representation company.
She joins the Malta Tourism Authority following five years as the hub head for South African Tourism for UK and Ireland – where she has been replaced by Kgomotso Ramothea.
Van der Merwe commented: “I’m thrilled to be a part of the Malta Tourism Authority’s UK team.
“With attentions now turning to wellness, city breaks and sustainability, I’m excited to be part of the tourism authority’s increasing success in drawing a variety of travellers to experience all that the islands have to offer.”
Latest numbers show that Malta is on par to match UK visitor arrival figures recorded in 2018.
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