The Maldives was showcased at two prominent Middle Eastern travel exhibitions this week, maintaining brand visibility as a leading destination for the market.
The Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) took part in the Qatar Business & Luxury Travel (QBLT) Congress on 28 March and the Meetings Arabia & Luxury Travel (MALT) Congress 2022 from 30 to 31 March.
A Maldives Roadshow was conducted in Dubai on 29 March to coincide with the two events.
The marketing effort “comes under a new short term strategy devised to address the evolving geopolitical climate in the world following the effects of the Russia-Ukraine war,” according to the MMPRC.
“With Russia and CIS topping the arrivals figures in recent years, the strategy is aimed at mitigating the potential negative impact on arrival numbers from this region by restrategising marketing activities in selected markets to minimise the potential adverse effects on the Maldives tourism industry and the nation’s economy.”
During QBLT, the Maldives was promoted as an up-and-coming MICE destination as part of the ‘Redefining MICE’ campaign, which aims to diversify Maldives tourism to include meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions (MICE) activities.
The MMPRC team also met with the Lead Marketing Team from Qatar Airways to explore new opportunities and discussed ways to strengthen joint marketing efforts and collaboration towards market growth and recovery.
QBLT Congress is a luxury closed-door, boutique congress that brings together 50 of the biggest outbound travel buyers of MICE tourism from across Qatar. Tourism boards, hotels and resorts, DMCs and other international luxury travel suppliers take part in the one-day intensive B2B event.
The roadshow in Dubai was held under the theme ‘Connect with Maldives – Your Safe Haven’ with eight industry partners, promoting the Maldives with a destination presentation highlighting the products, experiences, and latest travel guidelines and emphasising the safety provided by the scattered geography of the island nation. The presentation was followed by a night of networking and building new business relations as well as a special raffle to award a free holiday in the Maldives.
The Middle Eastern sojourn was concluded at the MALT Congress 2022, which provided opportunities for industry partners to connect with regional buyers through pre-arranged one-to-one business appointments. The exhibition also featured expert sessions on lessons learnt in 2021 and the future of the tourism industry.
Last year, Maldives welcomed 91,413 tourists from the Middle East. Saudi Arabia was the top seventh market in 2021. In January, more than 5,103 arrivals were recorded from the Middle East. The MMPRC’s activities targeting the market include joint marketing campaigns, webinars, roadshows, familiarisation trips and participation in other major fairs and exhibitions.
