The Phoenicia Malta has appointed Andrew Strickland as its newest Sales and Marketing Director, the five-star Floriana hotel announced on Wednesday.

Commenting on his appointment, Mr Strickland remarked:

“I am delighted to be working at the most prestigious and historic hotel in Malta. As a team, we strive to deliver excellence, which is further reflected in our membership of Leading Hotels of The World, the only Maltese hotel to do so”.

Mr Strickland has occupied a number of posts within prominent hotels and is, therefore, no stranger to the hospitality industry.

He has held positions at the Francis Hotel in Bath UK, the Meridien Excelsior in London, Corinthia Hotels International, InterContinental Malta, and The Gleneagles Hotel, promoting the Scottish landmark across Europe and the Middle East.

“Now, we are proud to welcome Andrew to the recently refurbished The Phoenicia Malta where he will be responsible for selling and marketing 136 rooms”, the leading hotel said in its announcement.

Further commenting on his appointment, Mr Strickland said that he “never imagined being here” adding that it is “both a pleasure and an honour to be at The Phoenicia, where my dad and grandfather worked too; but it is also a challenge”.

“The Phoenicia Malta is a household name on the islands, and it's my job to help maintain the pre-eminence”.

Turning to how the pandemic has impacted the hospitality industry, he highlighted how The Phoenicia remained open throughout, and that the pandemic gave the hotel’s owners – Scotland’s Hazledene Group – the opportunity to enhance the hotel product, even though it had just had a multi-million-euro refurbishment.

A new purpose-built spa was launched during the pandemic and is run by the French spa company Deep Nature. The building housing the spa was designed by multi-award winning architectural firm, AP Valletta.

“There are several other plans on the drawing board”, says Mr Strickland, “but we’ll announce these later”.

Meanwhile, “business is picking up since Malta reopened for tourism on 1st June, and reservations are increasing”, he says. “People are cautious about travelling, and the trend we’re seeing is one of late bookings.

“I’m very excited about the future since it opened in 1947 The Phoenicia has been this country’s leading hotel and with the team, we have in place, I have no doubts we will maintain our dominant position in the market”, beams Andrew Strickland.

Commenting on Mr Strickland’s appointment, Robyn Pratt, The Phoenicia Malta’s acting General Manager, said “having Andrew running the sales and marketing team combined with his international experience – particularly in the emerging and developing markets of Asia – is a tremendous asset for us and, by extension, Malta”.