Partnership between business, the government and local communities will be key in delivering a coherent and successful tourism strategy for Malta, the island's tourism authority has said.

Malta is heavily reliant on a steady flow of tourists but faces tough competition from other European destinations.

The Malta Tourism Society has said that real progress is being made in developing campaigns for marketing the island overseas.

"The structures for this process have already been laid down," a spokesman for the society told Malta's Times newspaper.

"All that is needed now is the real will and determination to see the project through in the national interest."

With close ties to the UK and great weather, especially in the summer, Malta is popular with British tourists.

With this kind of initiative in place there has never been a better time to take a holiday to Malta.