The first Sol Meliá hotel in Malta, the Sol Suncrest was officially inaugurated. The event was hosted by the hotel owner, Angelo Xuereb and attended by the Executive Vice President of the Sol Meliá European Division, Andrés Encinas and is the result of a management agreement signed in June this year between the Spanish hotel company and Suncrest Hotels p.l.c, a subsidiary of AX Holdings.

According to Andrés Encinas, "the incorporation of the Sol Suncrest in Malta makes it ten countries in the Mediterranean in which we now provide hotels: Croatia, France, Egypt, Italy, Lebanon, Malta, Morocco, Spain, Turkey and Tunisia", adding that, "the Sol Suncrest joins the other two projects that we have already signed for Malta, and more than 30 additional hotels we have scheduled to open in the Mediterranean over the next two years. This will help us to maintain our dominance of the hotel business in the Mediterranean region while also consolidating our position as the leading resort hotel company in the world".

Encinas also highlighted that, "one of the advantages of the Sol Suncrest, apart from the fact that it has been a public company since 1997, is that it is already operating in a mature market and has thus been relatively easy to integrate within the company in a very short timeframe, allowing the hotel to reap the benefits of our sales organization and management know-how from day one".

The Sol Suncrest Hotel enjoys a strategic location in Qawra in the north of Malta. It is a modern hotel located right alongside the sea and with a spectacular view over the Mediterranean. Qawra provides excellent facilities for tourism and is an ideal destination for resting for a few days or for incentive trips or business conferences, never far from wonderful sandy beaches, archaeological treasures and historical monuments.

Sol Suncrest Hotel ****:
Rooms: 458 comfortable rooms
Location: Alongside the sea on the northern coast of Malta, only half an hour from the capital, La Valleta.

Services and facilities: 5 restaurants, cocktail bar, discotheque, swimming pools, fitness center, water sports center, diving school, conference hall (capacity 350 people) and 3 meeting rooms for up to 80 guests.

Sol Suncrest ****
Qawra Coast/ Qawra SPB 08 Malta
Tel.: 356.577.101
Fax: 356.580.732

Sol Hotels:

After months of waiting, today's the day: holiday time! You've been dreaming about it so long and everything has got to be perfect. Not even the tiniest problem is allowed. Only a hotel with the experience of the Sol brand behind it can guarantee you a great holiday. If you've still not tried it, do it now and choose from amongst the more than 100 Sol hotels all over the world. You're family will thank you forever.

Malta: a key Mediterranean destination

Malta, with a population of around 400,000 people and a surface area of 246 km2, is the largest of the five islands in the Maltese Archipelago. Over the last 40 years tourism has become one of the island's leading industries and has made a significant contribution to the diversification of the country's economy. 40% of Maltese GNP, 6.2 billion euros in 1999, was derived directly or indirectly from tourism.

Malta currently receives 1.2 million visitors per year, having grown by 3.7% last year. The majority of its visitors are from Europe, especially the UK, Germany and Italy.

The most popular destinations for tourists are to be found in cities such as Silema, Saint Julians, Saint Paul's Bay, Xemxija, Gozo and Qawra, one of the most beautiful and relaxing resorts on the island.

Sol Meliá: leader in the Mediterranean

Sol Meliá is the leading hotel company in Spain, Latin America and the Caribbean, the third largest hotel company in Europe and number ten in the world ranking. It is also the largest resort hotel company in the world. The company provides more than 350 hotels in 30 countries under its Meliá Hotels, TRYP Hotels, Sol Hotels and Paradisus Resorts brands.