XTERRA – the global brand of off-road triathlon and endurance events with a 100,000 ‘tribe’ of followers – has forged a new collaboration with Hellfire Events in Malta and the Malta Tourism Authority. This new deal sees the XTERRA brand include Malta as the season opener of the 2015 XTERRA European Tour.
XTERRA Malta will be held on 29 March 2015 at the Golden Bay Radisson Blu Resort, and aims to attract hundreds of sports and nature enthusiasts from around the world to challenge themselves against the elements in the beauty of Malta’s nature reserves.
“XTERRA Malta is an off road triathlon that will require participants of all levels to swim in Golden Bay, mountain bike cycle through Majjistral and trail run through the Gnejna plateau and clay slopes, taking in the beauty of our west coast as they take on the tough course,” explained Nathan Farrugia, co-founder of the event.
He added, “A Beginner and Team Relay races are also being organised to ensure the event is open to as many people as possible.”
Professionals athletes will take part to compete for the US$7,500 pro prize purse while the top amateurs will aim to win their entry into the coveted XTERRA World Championships, held every year in Maui.
Minister of Tourism, Dr Edward Zammit-Lewis praised the organisers and the partnership – and the drive to develop and attract quality tourists to the islands in off-peak months.
This niche market is seen as being true to the government’s strategy to boost tourism throughout the year, particularly in slower winter periods. Indeed, the scope of this partnership is seen to fit in with the goals to attract quality tourists that ‘appreciate nature, expect high quality accommodation and want to experience culture and history as well as the beauty of the landscape.’
Mr Paul Bugeja, CEO of the Malta Tourism Authority (MTA) welcomed the opportunity to partner with Hellfire Events, which has been organising quality sports events for the past 5 years, including a race around Gozo in May every year.
The partnership will strengthen the portfolio of travel incentives to tourists and diversify the range of reasons why a traveller would choose Malta or Gozo as their preferred destination. The MTA will further support the initiative through marketing XTERRA Malta through its widespread reach of offices and the visitmalta.com online portal.
Mr Matthew Pace, the President of the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association, emphasised the importance of off-season events such as this to attract tourists to Malta and boost hotel and restaurant occupancy.
XTERRA participants are recognised as high quality tourists with higher than average spending power that are interested in good hotels and cultural experiences.
XTERRA’s international business will be represented at the race with XTERRA TV coverage, and promoting Malta through XTERRA’s 3 million website views per annum, extensive coverage on various print media and through the dedicated ‘tribe’ newsletter.
