Malta’s Tourism Branch Sponsors Athletica Vaticana – The Cycling Team Of The Holy See
Malta’s tourism arm has teamed up with the Vatican’s cycling team as part of a 10-year strategy promoting the island.
Athletica Vaticana’s new gear now features a colourful VisitMalta logo emblazoned on the shorts, right above the Vatican’s title and iconic yellow and white colours.
Pope Francis, in a message, nominated Athletica Vaticana as “ambassador of the Pope” among sportspeople, precisely because “Athletica Vaticana bears concrete witness to the solidarity inherent in sport, to the supportive face of sport”.
The Malta Tourism Authority and the Ministry for Tourism praised the new exclusive “outside the box” partnership with the Vatican’s cycling team.
“Athletica Vaticana began its service among sportsmen and women in track and field four years ago. It is made up of citizens of the Vatican City, employees of the Holy See and their immediate family members. In addition to the UCI, Athletica Vaticana is an official member of the International Padel Federation and of the World Taekwondo and is currently initiative the process to become an official member of World Athletics.”
The exact amount spent in the sponsorship remains undisclosed, though Malta Tourism Authority CEO Carlo Micallef said “this donation and this new relationship will help to further give exclusive visibility to the VisitMalta brand in international sport events, which are in turn broadcast to millions of people around the world”.
Athletica Vaticana will be participating for the first time in the Cycling World Championships in Australia later this month.
Giampaolo Mattei, President of Athletica Vaticana said that the team “is extremely happy to have established this connection with Malta, particularly because it echoes the Apostolic Journey which the Holy Father made in Malta earlier this year.
“Moreover, the team was in Malta during the Championship of Small States where they won our first bronze medal, apart from our Cricket team who was also in Malta for several matches,” he said.
During his journey to Malta, Pope Francis had described Malta as an ideal “rose of winds”, and through this relationship we would like to embark on our own journey, inspired by the “rose of winds” metaphor, embracing a friendship through sport, bringing people together, creating space for dialogue and peace, always based on the Holy Father’s speeches when he was in Malta earlier this year.
“VisitMalta’s presence on Athletica Vaticana is another perfect example of how we are planning to diversify Malta’s tourism product in the years to come,” Tourism Minister Clayton Bartolo said.
“Through this collaboration, we will be cementing Malta’s prospects in the fields of various tourism niches that primarily include faith tourism and sports tourism. Malta is blessed on all fronts as far as these cornerstones of tourism are concerned, however we are working hard to walk the extra mile and catapult Malta’s tourism industry on the forefront of the Maltese economy.”
What do you make of this new partnership?
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