The Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation signed an agreement with local company Resort Life Travel on Monday (27 June) to promote the destination in key European markets.
One of the leading in-bound tour operators with 15 years of experience in the Maldivian tourism industry, RLT’s service portfolio spans across all major hotel brands in the country with well-established relations with key contacts in Russia and CIS countries as well as in Central and Eastern European markets.
“We are embarking on a journey to begin working even more closely with local tour operators, who have been doing remarkably well during the pandemic, even the aftermath of the crisis. We can use the strengths of partners like resort life, to further our common goal of marketing the destination,” said MMPRC CEO Thoyyib Mohamed, adding that he hopes the partnership would be a good example for others.
Together with his MMPRC counterpart, Mohamed Shaaz, RLT’s managing director, signed the agreement on behalf of the company at a ceremony held at the MMPRC headquarters in Malé.
Under the agreement, Resort Life Travel will ensure that the branding, name, and logo of MMPRC are used in all events, promotions (online and offline) that it takes part in the Russia, CIS, Central and Eastern Europe markets. The new partnership is part of the MMPRC’s strategy “to create synergy with local travel and tour operators in order to work to promote the destination and strengthen global brand visibility.” The government’s tourism promotion firm hopes to increase in arrivals from Russia, CIS region and Central and Eastern Europe by establishing a constant destination presence.
Russia is currently the third top market with 77,783 tourist arrivals as of 22 June, representing a market share of 9.9%. Russia was a top market in 2021 with a whopping 175% increase in arrivals compared to the pre-pandemic year of 2019. The Maldives welcomed 222,422 tourists from Russia last year. Russia was the top market in 2022 with 44,055 holidaymakers as of 2 March. But arrivals plummeted 70% after Aeroflot suspended international flights on 8 March. The Russian national airline resumed flights to the Maldives on 13 May after a two-month hiatus.
