Malta will have welcomed 2.2 million tourists by end of 2022

Nov 22 2022

Tourism Minister revealed today that by the end of this year, Malta will have welcomed an estimated 2.2 million tourists to the island.

The minister revealed the statistic whilst discussing the financial estimates which the Tourism Ministry has authority over.

This rate is double that registered last year as well as being higher than what was originally estimated for this year itself.

It was also noted that in the first nine months of this year, the tourists visiting the island spent well over 12,700,000 nights. Bartolo also highlighted that Malta will, by the end of the year, reach 89% of its air connectivity which it once boasted pre-COVID-19.

He also said that the winter schedule has more than 70 direct routes to and from Malta. Government deputy Edward Zammit Lewis also noted how the tourists are also visiting Malta during the winter months and not just the summer.

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Maltese commentary should be provided for World Cup says local sports journalist

Nov 22 2022

Local sports journalist and commentator Christian Micallef took to social media to propose that TVM should provide Maltese community for the 2022 World Cup.

Micallef said that he is pained to see the national station making such a big effort to cover the World Cup but at the same time not providing commentary in Maltese.

‘The number might be low, but there are colleagues in TVM who are able to provide commentary for these matches. If the national TV station is showing these matches for Maltese spectators, then it needs to give the opportunity for commentators who use our native language.’

‘I don’t think there exists a country in the world which acquires the exclusive rights for this tournament, but does not provide commentary with the native language.’

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People are only just learning how to pronounce Qatar

Nov 22 2022

Well, it had to take the literal launch of the World Cup in the country for people to realise how to actually spell the word ‘Qatar.’

Running from November 20th to the 18th of December, Qatar will be hosting the 22nd FIFA World Cup for the first time. This did not come with its backlash however, with many pointing out various scandals and issues surrounding this year’s tournament.

And as people tune in, many are taking to twitter and other social media platforms to express their utter disbelief at how the name of the country is pronounced.

Executive director of the Alif Institute Mouna Abdulhamid explains that the Arabic word for Qatar actually only has three letters: qāf, ṭā and rā. These are Romanized to q,t and r respectively.

Unfortunately, none of them have a close English equivalent, making pronunciation extra tricky. Of course, for us Maltese, it’s not that hard given the proximity to the Arabic language that Maltese has.

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Japan fans clean up rubbish in World Cup stadium after matches

Nov 22 2022

Japan football supporters have received the admiration of football fans worldwide after they were filmed and photographed staying behind to clean up the rubbish at the World Cup stadium.

Japan haven’t played yet as they kick off their campaign this Sunday when they play against Costa Rica.

However, this did not stop the Japanese football supporters to attend the opening tournament between Qatar an Ecuador on Sunday.

Following a spectacular 2-0 win for Ecuador, the Japanese spectators decided to stick around to ensure that the football stands had been cleared of litter. This caught the attention of influencer Omar Farooq.

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He went on to capture footage showing the fans donning Japanese football shirts, flags and costumes whilst filling up rubbish bags left behind by other supporters.

Omar said: “Someone convince me that this is normal. The Japanese fans decided to clean the stadium. It’s not even their match!

The Japanese told Farooq that the Japanese never leave rubbish behind us because they respect the place. This is not the first place this has happened, when in 2018, they did the same at the Rostov Arena.

#MaltaDaily