Participants of the Congress on arrival in Malta

Annual congress of the Association of Dutch Travel Organisers held in Malta

Between the 2nd and 5th of October, the annual congress of the Association of Dutch Travel Organizers (ANVR) was held in Malta. ANVR was founded in 1966, is the Dutch Association of Travel Agents and Tour Operators, and represents the Dutch travel industry.

The Hilton hotel was chosen as the main venue and around 230 delegates flew in from Amsterdam. Air Malta and the Malta Tourism Authority (MTA) mainly supported the congress. Dr. Mario de Marco the Parliamentary Secretary for Tourism, was invited to open the congress on Saturday October 3rd. The theme of the congress was “Added Value” and consisted of conference sessions and talks in the morning, whilst in the evening the participants’ were offered a choice of various excursions to get to know the Maltese islands. The ANVR dedicated a special website to the congress and more information can be found on www.anvrcongres.nl

Malta beat stiff competition from Oman to organise the ANVR congress. According to ANVR director Frank Oostdam Malta was chosen due to the island’s diversity and the great enthusiasm and hospitality that was offered to them during the site inspections prior to selecting the final venue. The MTA also helped to arrange “giveaways” at the congress and on the final day the Authority’s CEO, Mr Josef Formosa Gauci made the closing speech.

As the official congress carrier, Air Malta’s Conference and Incentive Section and the airline’s representative in the Benelux region, coordinated the travel arrangements for all the delegates and provided special arrangements including the setup of extra schedule flights, dedicated check-in counters, customised in-flight announcements and special seating arrangements.

On Sunday evening a gala dinner was held at the Mediterranean Conference Centre in honour of KLM's 90th anniversary year. The entire congress and leisure programme was hailed as a great success by all involved.