Maldives won the World’s Leading Destination award at World Travel Awards 2021 (WTA) – a great testament to the success of the activities carried out by the Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC / Visit Maldives) to make the island nation the most preferred destination in the world. WTA is the leading authority that recognises and rewards excellence in travel and tourism and it’s the second consecutive year that the Maldives had successfully earned this prestigious title.
In 2021, Visit Maldives conducted several activations in GCC, which has emerged as a priority market for Maldives. These included familiarization trips, webinars, participation in fairs such as the Arabian Travel Market (ATM) – the leading international travel and tourism event for the Middle Eastern market, among others.
In order to boost the momentum of making Maldives the most sought-after destination in 2022 and to further increase the arrival figure from the GCC, Visit Maldives has kick-started the year with strategically planned activities for the region based on the success and experiences of 2021.
The goal remains to maintain the visibility of the island nation throughout the region and increase awareness about various holiday options offered by the destination. In line with this, Visit Maldives has identified the key promotional strategies for the year which focus on endorsing Maldives as a Safe Haven for visitors owing to factors such as its unique geography, one-island-one-resort concept and stringent safety measures.
Visit Maldives plans to target the travel trade and consumers in the region by conducting plethora of activities throughout the year, including familiarization trips, multi-city roadshows, outdoor advertising, and participation in fairs, consumer activations and joint campaigns with key regional trade partners and airlines.
Presently, the tourism board has on-going Joint Marketing Campaigns with MakeMyTrip UAE, Qatar Airways and Seera in Saudi Arabia to promote the destination. Additionally, roadshows are scheduled over the upcoming months in key regional cities of Dubai, Riyadh, Jeddah, Kuwait and Doha.
As of January 2022, Saudi Arabia is one of the top source markets for Maldives and ranks number six in terms of tourist arrivals by welcoming over 2,840 travellers from the country. The UAE has shown impressive growth numbers in 2021, surpassing the pre-pandemic arrival numbers of 2019 to register a significant growth of 40%.
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