Malta will be the official destination partner of Manchester United for the next three years, following a deal struck between the football giants and the Malta Tourism Authority.

The deal was announced at a press conference held at Manchester United's AON training centre on Thursday. 

No financial details of the deal were divulged, with the parties citing commercial sensitivity.

The partnership will see Visit Malta advertising appearing at Old Trafford, Manchester United’s home stadium, as well as on the club’s various media portals.

Visit Malta advertisements will be present this very weekend as United host Leicester in the English Premier League.

Sean Jefferson, Director of Partnerships at Manchester United, said the club wants its supporters to be able to experience the culture and adventure the collection of islands has to offer.

“With the help of Visit Malta and the support from us, we believe this is now possible because football is an international language – a language we will use to tell a story of our partnership and promote the awareness of Malta,” Jefferson said.

Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi, who was present for the announcement, expressed his excitement for the deal.

“It is an honour for our country to partner with one of the greatest brands in the world, not only in football,” he said.

“Manchester United’s partnership with Malta is certainly filled with tradition and love towards the club. But there is also a common vision for the future,” Dr Mizzi said.

“This comes at a special time as Malta's United community celebrates its 60-year anniversary since the Malta Manchester United supporters club, the oldest Man United supporters club in the world, was founded.

“Our vision for travel and tourism is to become the leading destination in the Mediterranean. I had a dream with (permanent secretary) Ronald Mizzi in which we would partner with a world class brand and Manchester United were the obvious choice.

“Through this wonderful partnership, we’ll be able to not only consolidate and work on marketing initiatives jointly in traditional markets where United are strong, but also look beyond our shores, expanding to markets which are new to us.”

Manchester United is arguably the biggest football club in the world, with turnover exceeding €650m a year and fans across the globe. 

The club is the most followed sports team on Chinese social network Weibo, with their 9.3million followers around the same as those Arsenal and Chelsea combined.

Visit Malta will now be one of the club's 23 'global partners'. The club also has a range of smaller sponsorship deals with 'regional partners'. 

Visibility in Asia and the US

Dr Mizzi said Malta hoped to use the exposure Manchester United's brand had across Asia and the US to attract new visitors and said that Visit Malta would look to work on strategic plans with regards to increasing Malta’s visibility.

This was echoed by MTA executive chairman Gavin Gulia, who told Times of Malta that Malta is at a time where “we need to start thinking out of the box, away from just Europe”.

“Manchester United is the perfect vehicle for us to achieve our global vision because they are very strong especially in Asian and American markets. Obviously we want Malta’s name to show up everywhere,” he said.

“We’ll ensure that we’ll have partnerships even with first team players, who will visit Malta and eventually do joint promotion events,” Dr Mizzi said.

“We’ll be working with (United) legends such as Bryan Robson as well and we’ll proudly display the United logo on all of the Tourism Authority’s documentation.”

The MTA believes a collaboration like this is also an opportunity to explore other ways to benefit the Maltese economy. Gulia explained that associating the country with a brand like Manchester United, eventually inspires others to look at Malta as a valuable option.

“Once other clubs find out about Malta and the collaboration, it will be easier for them say that ‘Malta is a worth it’. So this helps us in that way as well,” Gulia said.

“We are investing greatly in sport tourism, we’re doing well and I’m sure we can become a leading sport destination.”

The agreement between MTA and Manchester United comes after the numerous other clubs who have recently visited the islands for training camps and Gulia mentioned how the possibility of more like them through this collaboration may become present as well.