Malta Tourism Awards: Recognition for Flying Theater “Odyssey Malta”
Odyssey Malta is being honoured with the Malta Tourism Award 2025. // Photo: Courtesy of Simtec/Sarner
(eap) The still relatively new format of the “Malta Tourism Awards”, which were presented yesterday in their second edition by the Malta Tourism Authority to honour achievements and developments in 2025, is intended to recognize outstanding projects within the country’s tourism sector, raise overall quality standards and encourage further investment.
In Category A, the “Responsible Tourism Development Award”, in the subcategory of “Best Visitor Attraction 2025” were five finalists. Winner is the visitor attraction Odyssey Malta, which opened in autumn 2024 and combines Malta’s rich history and culture with a flying theater experience, allowing guests to embark on a simulated journey across the landscapes and landmarks of the archipelago. The project was realized within the Mercury Towers complex in San Ġiljan through a collaboration between Mercury Towers Ltd., Sarner International and Simtec Systems, and marked the introduction of a flying theater attraction to the island nation for the first time – specifically featuring two units of Simtec’s “HEXaFLITE® mini” (read also our related article in EAP 1/2025).
Further finalists in the category “Sustainable Tourism Development, Visitor Attraction” were The Farsons Brewery Experience, the Esplora Interactive Science Centre, the Fort St Elmo & the National War Museum and the Mosta Rotunda Foundation.
In addition, leading hotel operations, diving centres, transport providers and other stakeholders of Malta’s tourism industry were honoured. In Category B, the “Tourism Worker of the Year Award”, individuals were recognised for outstanding performance and dedication, while Category C, “Special Theme Recognition”, aims to acknowledge projects in niche segments such as LGBTQ tourism, religious or spiritually motivated travel, and “screen tourism” – tourism inspired by films and television series. This year's theme was focused on LGBTQ+ tourism, while next year’s theme will focus on faith and religious tourism. ■
(Editor’s note, 17 April 2026: In the original news text, all finalists in the Best Visitor Attraction category were declared as winners. The winner is Odyssey Malta, with The Farsons Brewery Experience in second place. We have corrected the text and apologize for the misleading wording.)
