2018 was certainly one of the most exciting years that Main Event Travel has experienced since its launch in 2011 – with new clients, new events and fantastic new functionality on our amazing one-stop-shop website.
As we reflect on what’s proved to be a very busy year – and look ahead to 2019 – we’d like to thank all our clients and partners for spending another year travelling the globe with us to play the game we all love so much!
New functionality – booking flights
We launched a new online flight bookings service in 2018, making us the first agency in the world to provide poker players with a bespoke, one-stop travel shop specifically designed for their needs. The new flights reservation facility has made it easier than ever for players to sort out their travel in just one easy step, wherever they’re playing. Players can now book flights, make hotel reservations and buy in online for many tournaments as well as plan exactly which events they’re playing in.
Main Event Travel is already recognised as the premier tour operator for poker players with a range of dedicated travel services. CEO Fraser MacIntyre said: “Our aim is to provide exceptional convenience and value to poker players wherever they’re competing. Most players want to stay as close as possible to where a tournament is being held so that’s our default. We also provide full event schedules whenever possible, so players know exactly what’s on and when, and can book their trip accordingly. The new website functionality shows flight durations, costs and stopovers and makes it easy to move around different sections – with hotels, flights, packages, schedules and buy-in options all clearly displayed on user-friendly tabs.”
New events & services
We’ve strengthened our services for event organisers this year to include Digital Marketing and more in-depth Event Consultancy. This has helped our clients achieve fantastic turnouts at events – including the record-breaking Battle of Malta in October (more on that below!).
We added two exciting new clients in 2018 including PMU.fr and Casino Malta. We helped PMU.fr support the spectacular Caribbean Poker Party in the Bahamas last month as well as their involvement with World Poker Tour events and trips to Las Vegas. In the Bahamas, we arranged a fabulous catamaran trip which was very much enjoyed by PMU qualifiers.
Battle of Malta
With a €1 million guarantee for the flagship Main Event, Battle of Malta 2018 certainly set a high bar for success. But what a week it was! With 3,816 entries for the Main Event – nearly double the expected number – and 13,000 tournament entries overall, the spacious new Eden Arena tournament venue was packed throughout October’s festival and made this year’s Battle of Malta a spectacular success.
MainEventTravel had a pivotal role at the event providing a wide range of services to Casino Malta including event consultancy, event services, digital marketing, and providing media content.
Main Event Travel CEO Fraser MacIntyre said: "We were absolutely thrilled to be part of this year's record-breaking Battle of Malta. The numbers went through the roof and it was fantastic to be part of such an amazing event. Main Event Travel provided a wide range of services for Battle of Malta and obviously everyone was thrilled to nearly double the expected field.
“Planning is already under way to improve on the event for 2019. This will include a revision of the registration process, more tables and bigger side events - as well as introducing a host of other innovations to make next year's Battle of Malta even bigger and better”
We’ve continued to work closely with all our existing clients including 888Live – who have held numerous events this year as well as sponsoring the WSOP, Cash Game Festival, the Grosvenor UK Poker Tour and Goliath, the Redtooth Poker Tour, Super Stack, the Unibet Deepstack Open, Unibet UK Poker Tour as well as the World Poker tour and WPTDeepstacks.
Looking ahead to 2019
Going forward, we will be releasing a new API in the next few weeks which will offer all our customers further flexibility when it comes to booking rooms and flights. We will also be updating the MET website in 2019 to include train travel reservations and rental cars!
We wish all our customers good luck wherever they are playing – and Happy Holidays! See you in 2019.