The Phoenicia Malta is delighted to announce the appointment of Andrew Strickland as our new Director of Sales and Marketing.
Commenting on his appointment, Andrew said “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”.
Strickland is 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.
“I never imagined being here,” Andrew said, commenting further on his appointment. “It’s both a pleasure and honour to be at The Phoenicia, where my dad and grandfather worked as well; but it’s also a challenge. The Phoenicia Malta is a household name on the islands, and it’s my job to help maintain that pre-eminence”.
But dwelling on the past is not his style: “Malta has just reopened for tourism after a pandemic that devastated the world and affected the hospitality industry hard”, explains Strickland.
“Throughout the pandemic The Phoenicia remained open, yet it also gave its owners – Scotland’s Hazledene Group – the opportunity to enhance the hotel product, even though it had just had a multi-million-euro refurbishment.
“During the pandemic a new purpose-built spa was launched and is run by the French spa company Deep Nature”.
“There are several other plans on the drawing board”, says 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 Andrew’s appointment, Mrs 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”.
