Skywalk opening receives significant international media coverage, Govt says

The promotional value of enlisting Star Wars actor Mark Hamill to inaugurate the Skywalk for Gibraltar’s tourism product is “immense”, the Gibraltar Government has said.

Flagging the “significant international media interest” of the opening the Government said television footage of the event has been aired on 117 channels worldwide with reports published in a number of international newspapers and magazines, and photographs viewed tens of thousands of times on social media.

“The promotional value of the event for Gibraltar’s tourism product is immense,” the Government said in a statement adding that the advertising value will be in the many millions of pounds.

As of Sunday evening, 117 channels had broadcast video footage of the Skywalk opening, amounting to 1 hour 29 minutes and 4 seconds of global TV airtime.

These channels include ITV2, Een (Belgium), Channel 9 (Sydney, Australia), and i24News, which broadcasts in in English, French and Arabic languages in France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Poland and across the African continent.

In addition, 101 USA regional channels have carried the story, the majority of which are regional affiliates of Fox, CBS and ABC.

The Government added that the print media has also taken significant interest in Gibraltar’s Skywalk opening story.

It has been carried by tourism industry outlets including Attractions Management, The Guardian Travel, Breaking Travel News, Northern Ireland Travel News and Irish Travel Trade News, and architecture and building trade newspaper CLAD news.

Household name papers including the Daily Mail, El Mundo and El Pais each printed the story of the Skywalk opening, painting Gibraltar a positive light.

There have been countless other engagements on social media, No. 6 Convent Place claimed.

The Chief Minister, Fabian Picardo, said: ‘I was delighted that Mark Hamill agreed to come to Gibraltar to open our amazing Skywalk.”

“We have been planning this for some time, and the week was chosen when Mark was going to be in the UK making it easier for him to come to Gibraltar.”

“The dramatic images broadcast worldwide speak for themselves and as Mr Hamill rightly told the world, there is nothing like the 360° panoramic view from the Skywalk at the top of the Rock of Gibraltar.”

“The inauguration of this fantastic new tourist product has been months in the planning, and the global viewing figures speak for themselves in terms of the return on the investment we have made to promote the Skywalk as a global tourist attraction.”