VISITMALTA

How the CVB builds planner confidence and grows economic impact with Cvent

12%

Increase in received RFPs

150%

Increase in new organisations sourcing

100%

Response rate

INTRODUCTION

Large, established MICE destinations have everything at hand to quickly and easily plan and execute events of all sizes. The thousands of destinations between major metro markets have just as much to offer, despite smaller teams, budgets, and choices. The biggest challenge is increasing their exposure to qualified event planners and building trust that the destination can deliver memorable experiences for attendees. 

That is exactly the role VisitMalta Incentives & Meetings is playing.

Nadine Abdilla, PR and Marketing Manager for VisitMalta Incentives & Meetings, has spent 17 years helping elevate Malta’s brand in the international market. Her mission is simple: keep Malta visible, relevant, and compelling for planners around the world. As she puts it, her role is “bringing forward the brand and pushing Malta’s name on the international market.” VisitMalta is not just promoting a destination. It helps planners and local suppliers connect faster, work smarter, and move qualified opportunities forward with greater confidence.

Cvent helps us to be the glue between the suppliers and the planners, where we can facilitate and bring both ends of the business together.

Nadine Abdilla
PR and Marketing Manager

CHALLENGE

Stay visible, respond faster, and help partners compete

Today’s sourcing environment rewards destinations that remove friction. Planners are increasingly prioritizing response speed, transparency, and visual clarity when they evaluate destinations and venues. They are using digital sourcing tools more consistently and expect suppliers to respond quickly and relevantly. For CVBs and DMOs, that raises the bar. It is no longer enough to drive awareness. Destinations also need to help their partner ecosystem perform.

VisitMalta operates in a competitive global meetings and incentives market, and one of its biggest growth priorities is business coming from the United States. “The US market is a very important, growing market for the Maltese islands at the moment. And we’re really investing in that market and in growing that market.” New advertising methods and direct air access are helping support that effort. 

At the same time, VisitMalta is working to ensure the destination experience begins well before an event. That means helping planners get timely, tailored answers from local suppliers. Nadine sees that as a critical part of the CVB’s role. “We always encourage venues to respond in time because that is a crucial element for winning RFPs,” she says. Just as importantly, she pushes suppliers to make responses more relevant: proposals should be “more personal and more tailored for the client’s needs.”

That matters because Malta’s strength is not just the destination itself. It is also the way the market works together. “Being a small island, we have a very close relationship with our suppliers,” Nadine says. “And so in that way, we can enable and facilitate business very well between suppliers and clients. And planners, of course.”

That close supplier relationship is a real advantage. But it also creates a clear operational need: VisitMalta must help local hotels and venues stay visible, respond well, and compete effectively in a digital-first sourcing process.

SOLUTION

Use Cvent to connect planners, suppliers, and market insights

VisitMalta has worked with Cvent for years, and Nadine describes the relationship as both strategic and practical.

“Cvent is obviously a leading platform in the industry. For us, it’s very important to be there because it gives us strong visibility. The support we get is excellent.”

That visibility matters, but VisitMalta’s approach goes beyond showing up in search results.

The destination uses a broad mix of Cvent capabilities across advertising, planner reach, response workflows, and destination intelligence. Together, those tools support three priorities for VisitMalta:

  • Keep Malta visible where planners are actively sourcing
  • Help local partners respond faster and more effectively
  • Use better data to guide outreach and growth in strategic markets

That aligns closely with how Nadine talks about the role of technology in destination selling.

“We always encourage our suppliers to embrace technology, and we know how important technology is nowadays,” she says. In fact, she encourages partners to use technology “in every stage of the lifecycle” of MICE business.

 

For VisitMalta, Cvent supports that mindset by giving the destination a stronger way to connect both sides of the market. Instead of acting solely as a promotional body, VisitMalta can play a more active role in advancing opportunities. It can support visibility. It can reinforce response discipline. And it can help local suppliers compete with more confidence in the moments that matter most. That is why Nadine describes Cvent’s value as “the glue between the suppliers and the planners.”

RESULTS

Stronger RFP growth, more room nights, and broader planner reach

 

image of harbor and online advertisement on phone

The clearest measurable gains for the CVB are in received business, planner reach, and response performance. In 2025, VisitMalta recorded:

  • 12% year over year increase in RFPs received
  • 52% increase in room nights requested
  • 56% increase in received RFP value
  • 45% increase in unique organizations sourcing the CVB
  • 150% increase in new organizations sourcing the destination

Response performance also stands out.

  • 100% response rate
  • 6.5 hours average response time

That kind of performance supports exactly what Nadine says she asks of suppliers: respond on time and respond with intent.

The profile of the RFPs also says something important about the quality of demand.

  • 95% of RFPs requested both meeting space and sleeping rooms
  • 53% of RFPS were for events with 201+ attendees
  • 42% of RFPs requested 201+ peak room nights
  • 47% of RFPs had a booking window of 12+ months

VisitMalta is not just reaching small, short-lead programs. It is attracting planners with larger event needs and longer planning horizons, both of which are strong signals for the destination meetings and incentives business.

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BEST PRACTICES

For CVBs that want to grow MICE business

VisitMalta’s story offers a practical lesson for other CVBs. Destinations win more business when they do more than market themselves. They win when they help planners and local suppliers move faster, work better together, and make confident decisions earlier in the sourcing process. VisitMalta combines destination storytelling with operational support. It uses Cvent to strengthen visibility, but also to reinforce the behaviors that matter most: responsiveness, coordination, and relevance. VisitMalta’s experience highlights a few clear lessons for other destination organizations:

Three people are sitting together, one in green, two in blue, and one in dark blue.
  • Act like a connector, not just a promoter. The destination can create more value when it helps planners and suppliers move business forward together.
A blue square with a white line and blue arrow pointing upwards on a black background.
  • Make response speed a market priority. As Nadine says, timely responses are “a crucial element for winning RFP’s.”
Pencil writing the letter C in blue on a black background with a purple and grey border.
  • Push for tailored responses, not generic ones. Faster is important, but relevance helps planners choose with confidence.
The earth is depicted in a pixelated, retro-style with blue and gray shades.
  • Invest in growth markets with clear access advantages. For VisitMalta, interest from the US market creates a stronger foundation for future demand.
A pixelated image of a computer monitor with a light bulb inside on a black background.
  • Help suppliers see technology as part of destination competitiveness. Better tools enable stronger coordination, greater visibility, and a more memorable planner experience.
Products used
visit malta logo and image of castle by the ocean

LOCATION

Malta

HOTELS

120

CHALLENGE

  • VisitMalta needed to stay visible in a competitive global meetings market while helping local partners compete more effectively.
  • Planners increasingly expect fast, relevant, and transparent responses during the sourcing process.
  • As a close-knit island destination, Malta’s success depends on helping suppliers respond quickly and work together well.

SOLUTION

  • VisitMalta uses Cvent as both a visibility platform and a practical tool for connecting planners, suppliers, and market insights.
  • Its Cvent mix supports destination advertising, planner reach, response workflows, and destination intelligence.
  • The organization encourages suppliers to use technology throughout the full planner journey, not just at the RFP stage.

RESULTS

  • VisitMalta received more RFPs, room nights, RFP value, and both unique and new organizations year over year.
  • Response performance was strong, with a 100% response rate and an average response time of 6.5 hours.
  • The destination attracted larger, longer-lead opportunities, showing stronger top-of-funnel quality and planner reach.
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