Maldives has welcomed its 1.8 millionth tourist for the year 2023, successfully reaching the arrival target set for the year. Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC/ Visit Maldives) celebrated the occasion with a ceremony on 20th December 2023 with the arrival of Dutch native Mr. Stefan Mathijs Hermans on flight EK652 from Dubai, UAE. This is Mr. Hermans’ first trip to Maldives with his wife and two children.
With this arrival, Maldives welcomed over 1.8 million tourists within a year for the first time in history. The CEO & MD of MMPRC, Ms. Fathmath Thaufeeq commented “We are immensely proud of this achievement and remain committed to reaching the targets set for our tourism industry for next year as well. Every visitor who arrives in the Maldives has their breath taken away by the natural beauty of our nation, the warm hospitality of our people, and the unmatched variety of places to stay and things to do. We are here to make sure that everyone everywhere in the world knows that their perfect holiday is waiting for them in the Sunny Side of Life. “
MMPRC has been conducting marketing campaigns throughout the year, with marketing strategies and immersive promotional campaigns that exhibit the experiences that Maldives has to offer. 349 marketing and promotional campaigns were conducted throughout the year, with a combined reach of over 6,011,389,743.
Significant collaborations include joint-campaigns with brands such as BBC Studios, CNN International Commercial and Qatar Airways. Another highlight of the year was the success of the Visit Maldives Storytellers’ Conference 2023. The success of these campaigns were recognised on a global scale as MMPRC and Maldives won the three highest honors of the night.
Maldives achieved the prestigious title of World’s Leading Destination for the fourth year in a row, along with being a recipient of the newly-introduced Global Tourism Resilience Award for strategically building capacity to recover swiftly and thrive after disruptions. MMPRC was awarded the title of World’s Leading Tourist Board Award for the second year in a row.