Colours of Malta is happy to share another exciting event organised in Milan, Italy, in collaboration with Visit Malta Italia.

A handful of  Milan Incentive Houses were invited to participate in an exclusive motivational lesson, where together with the exceptional sports personality – Ivan Basso, former professional cyclist, now manager of the Eolo-Kometa team – guests had the opportunity to discover some tricks of the discipline by visualizing incredible routes on the destination.

The event, proudly attended by Davide Cachia allowed us to identify to our guests how sports is a strongpoint in Malta and through this, guests learnt about biking routes around the Maltese Archipelago.

VisitMalta recently started a partnership with Eolo-Kometa Cycling Team precisely to ensure that the tourism sector, in its versatility, continues to grow in strength and quality, diversifying the product and the various niches that that can be offered, especially Sports Tourism, that is gaining popularity on the Maltese Islands.

The event took place in Milan at Virgin Active Collection Milano Cavour.

We are proud to announce that Colours of Malta won the Leader in Quality Tourism Award supported by Malta Tourism Authority at the Malta Business Awards.

Due to the current climate and the clients demands for sustainable events, Colours of Malta felt the necessity to provide a programme in line with ISO2021 sustainability management system for creating sustainable events. In view of this, all staff have been trained to monitor system performance including internal reviews and suppliers.

Click here to view the official corporate video from Awards Night from this 1st edition.

What if everything we know about prehistoric humans is wrong?

Journalist Graham Hancock travels the globe hunting for evidence of mysterious, lost civilizations dating back to the last Ice Age. Ancient Apocalypse is split into eight roughly half-hour-long episodes, over the course of which Hancock explains his theory about ancient civilizations. He believes that there was an advanced culture that existed before known civilizations that fed into ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Mesoamerica, during the period that historians believe all people were hunter-gatherers. Over the course of the docuseries, he travels across the globe from Turkey to Malta to Indonesia to the Bahamas to attempt to prove his points and find where this “lost civilization” may have been based.

Watch the Netflix episode regarding Malta, here.

Colours of Malta has the pleasure to introduce a ‘new’ team member, Steve.

Steve is no new face to the DMC world, having worked for over 12 years in the industry and having connections all over the world.

Steve is fluent in English and Italian, and an avid hockey player and sports fan.

After a short break in the industry, Steve is back with loads of experience and refreshing new ideas… and is definitely a great asset to our ever growing COM team!

You can get in touch with Steve on [email protected]

Please send your cv to [email protected]

The EMAs, the European Mission Awards, are the awards set up by the publishing house that has been producing and distributing the specialist Business Travel magazine, Mission, online and offline for over twenty years.

The idea of setting up European awards, specialising and focusing on business travel, stems from an experience dating back to 2013, organising the Italian Mission Awards, and from a desire to recognise excellence at a broader European level.

Malta won the Best Mice Destination 2022, and we had the pleasure of  accepting the award.

View all winners here.

Last week in collaboration with our partners at Visit Malta, we invited a handful of top French agencies to experience a few days discovering the Maltese Islands from cover to cover. A mix of history, culture, adrenaline activities, top dining, and the most idyllic October weather, set the perfect backdrop for this French educational.

We thank all our preferred suppliers for supporting us with their hospitality and creativity in order to give our guests a memory of our islands that will never fade!

We are very proud to announce that we have been selected as finalists for the Leader in Quality Tourism Award. This award is designed to recognise the private sector as a leading contributor to the Tourism sector in the largest business event held on a national level. Recognising wellbeing, innovation, sustainability, smart solutions and strategies, these awards give local entities the opportunity to showcase their achievements and success stories.

We consider ourselves  to be leaders in quality tourism as we are now offering a more sustainable event design. Event sustainability is one of the fastest-growing trends in the meetings industry, and for good reason. Us planners have a vital role to play in addressing some of the sustainability challenges we face as a planet, and as younger, more climate-conscious delegates start attending our events, it may not be long before being a fully certified sustainable event is the only type of event to attend!

Read more about our sustainable event ideas here.

Fingers crossed!

It was one of their first marital homes and a place where the then Princess Elizabeth and her husband Prince Philip were able to live a relatively ‘normal’ life as husband and wife, before the sudden death of her father, King George VI, changed their lives forever. Now, Villa Guardamangia is set to be transformed into a museum, after falling into disrepair in recent years,

The couple lived in Malta for two years between 1949 and 1951, while Prince Philip was stationed there with HMS Magpie. An 18th century limestone villa in the style of a summer palace, Villa Guardamangia was loaned to the couple by Philip’s beloved uncle Lord Louis Mountbatten, who rented it from the Schembri family. It was said to hold very happy memories for the couple, who looked back on their carefree time there fondly later in life. The Queen was a ‘regular’ naval wife, shopping in her Morris Minor and taking boat trips around the archipelago, while her husband worked hard in the Navy, one of his great joys, and a career that was cut short by his wife’s ascension to the throne.

The building was purchased in 2020 by the government and entrusted to Heritage Malta. The conservation and reconstruction works are already taking place but the main rehabilitation works are planned to start by the end of the year 2022 and are planned to last for the next 5 years and cost around €10mil to bring the villa back to its former glory. Conservators are currently working on the 1st floor uncovering the original wall paintings. This project will see the former royal residence transformed into a museum, exploring both Britain’s link to Malta (which gained independence in 1964) and will recreate what the house looked like when the royal couple lived there.

‘It’s in a very dilapidated state,’ Kenneth Gambin from Heritage Malta, told The Telegraph. ‘We’ve had to prop up the façade because it was threatening to collapse in places. We will have to replace some walls. It needs extensive work, it’s been falling to pieces for the last few decades. We calculate that it will cost somewhere between €5m and €10m and I would say it will be closer to the higher figure.’

Article credits: https://www.tatler.com/article/villa-guardamangia-malta-home-queen-prince-philip-renovation

They may not have a Maltese passport but they do have Maltese blood! Or, at the least, some Maltese roots. Meet the Maltese and almost Maltese around the world who have made a big name for themselves.

1. Meghan Markle
Born Rachel Meghan Markle, she is the first American member of the British royal family and a former film and television actress. While in Malta on a visit, prior to meeting Harry, she claimed, “… coming to Malta has been really important to me because my great-great-grandmother lived here, so we’ve been trying to trace the ancestry.”

2. Miriam Gauci, Soprano
One of the first Maltese born to make it big, Miriam Gauci moved to Milan to pursue a career as an operatic soprano. She made her debut as a professional soprano in Bologna in 1984 and in the US in 1987. By 1992, she was in high demand, singing in Vienna, Munich, Hamburg and Santa Fe, alongside the likes of Plácido Domingo.

3. Joseph Calleja, Tenor
Maltese Tenor Joseph Calleja needs no introduction. Born in Attard in 1978, he began singing at the age of 16. In 1998, he won the Caruso Competition in Milan and went on to pursue a successful career as a world-class tenor. He performs annually in Malta alongside other acclaimed artists and is known for his philanthropic work. Appointed Malta’s Cultural Ambassador in 2012, he is truly Malta’s pride and joy.

4. Joseph Calleia, Actor/Singer
Yet another Joseph Calleia was in the limelight much earlier. Also known as Joseph Spurin, he was one of Hollywood’s most recognised villains from the classic period. He was the Leonardo di Caprio from the 30s to the early 60s, working alongside Rita Hayworth, Ingrid Birgman, Lucille Balls and Orson Welles. He was born in Malta in 1897 and died in Sliema in 1975, aged 78.

5. Kerry Ingram, Actress
A more contemporary rising star is Kerry Ingram, Princess Shireen Baratheon in Game of Thrones. Kerry also won an Olivier Award, the highest honour in British theatre, for her role in the hit musical Matilda. The 17-year-old British actress’s grandfather is Maltese, and she has attended the Mqabba village feast every single year since she was born!

6. Edwige Fenech, Actress
Edwige Fenech was born to a Maltese father and Sicilian mother in French Algeria (now Algeria). She became an actress and film producer, working alongside Al Pacino and starring in a Quentin Tarantino film. She was hugely talented, yet is more remembered locally for her sexy and nude appearances.

7. Edward De Bono, Author/Psychologist/Philosopher
Edward De Bono is lauded as one of the most creative minds of the 21st century. The author, physician and psychologist became widely known for his extraordinary work in what is coined ‘lateral thinking’ – an indirect and creative approach to solving problems. Born in Malta in 1933, De Bono has held faculty appointments at the universities of Oxford, Cambridge, London and Harvard, published 57 books in 34 languages and made several other contributions.

8. Paul Tisdale, Football Manager
Paul Tisdale is an English professional football manager and former professional football player. He is currently the manager of League League One club Bristol Rovers. He was born in 1973 in Valletta, Malta.

9. Andy Partridge, Musician
Legendary British Rockstar Andrew John Partridge was best known as the primary songwriter and vocalist of punk rock band XTC from 1972 until 2006. The English singer-songwriter, guitarist and record producer from Swindon was born in Mtarfa, Malta, in 1953.

10. Britney Spears, Singer
From the biography ‘Through the Storm’ by Lynne Spears, mother of Jamie Lynn, Bryan and Britney Spears: “But on my mama’s side, the family tree is a little more colourful and glamorous. Her father, my grandfather, was Anthony Portelli, who came from the island of Malta. Anthony Portelli came to England in the 1920s, married a British girl and changed his name to Portell. The Portells had two daughters, Joan, my aunt, and Lillian, my mother.” There you go, Britney’s maternal great-grandfather was Maltese.

11. Bryan Adams, Musician
Rock singer-songwriter, record producer and guitarist since 1975 until present, Bryan Guy Adams is also a philanthropist. Most Maltese know about the Canadian superstar’s Maltese roots as he officially revealed them during a concert in Pembroke, Malta, in 2007. His maternal grandmother was Maltese – she was from Floriana but lived in Valletta. His mother was, therefore, Maltese-Canadian, and Adams himself was born in Canada in 1959.

12. Tash Sultana, Musician
This time we are proud of the daughter of a Maltese-Australian. Sultana astounds everyone with her talent and the way she puts music together. She can play 20 instruments, including the guitar, bass, trumpet, flute, piano, drums, pan flute, mandolin, saxophone, synthesizer, percussion and saxophone as well as vocals. Genres include psychedelic rock, alternative rock, reggae rock and lo-fi. Born in 1995, she’s been playing music since the age of three and busking on the streets of Melbourne since age 17.

Article credits: https://www.guidememalta.com/en/12-world-famous-celebrities-with-ties-to-malta