Maldives pavilion is now open for visitors at Expo 2020 Dubai. Maldives is represented at the pavilion by the Ministry of Economic Development, Ministry of Tourism and Visit Maldives.

Expo 2020, dubbed as World Expo, is held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates for a duration of six month from 1st October 2021 till 31st March 2022. This year's Expo theme is “Connecting Minds, Creating the Future”. It provides a great platform to showcase destinations, latest innovations, and investment opportunities from around the world under three major themes; Sustainability, Mobility and Opportunity. The event will see exhibitors from over 192 countries. An estimated 25 million visitors are expected to visit the Expo during its duration.

The Maldives’ pavilion is promoting the country under the Sustainability theme at the Expo 2020. The country’s pavilion will showcase the unique beauty of the destination, enhance brand visibility, and share investment opportunities available in the Maldives.

Throughout the duration of the six months of the expo, Visit Maldives will also give away exciting raffles to lucky winners every week. These raffles are conducted under the title “Win 100 days of Free Holidays in the Maldives”. The raffles provide 100 lucky winners free holidays in the Maldives.

Coinciding with the Expo 2020, Visit Maldives, is also carrying out a visibility campaign at Dubai Mall. This month-long campaign, launched on 1st October, will showcase the destination on 384 screens in the mall. The video aims to attract visitors to the Maldives pavilion at the Expo, advertise the “Win 100 days of Free Holidays in the Maldives” raffle to be taken during each week of the event for six months, and promote the destination.

Through the participation in Expo 2020, affluent residents from the Middle East and delegates visiting the Expo from other countries are targeted, to promote the destination. During the six month, we aim to promote different aspects of the destination, conduct trade and business which can result in increased foreign direct investment. Through our pavilion at Expo 2020 we aim to showcase our unique natural environment and our country's unmatched natural beauty that is enjoyed by both locals and visitors. This activity is conducted as part of Visit Maldives’ strategies for the Middle Eastern market.

By 15th September 2021, Maldives welcomed a total of 843,552 visitors to the Maldives out of which 11,192 arrivals were from the UAE, which is a growth of 47.8% compared to 2019. Meanwhile, during this period, we received 27,380 arrivals from Saudi Arabia, which is a growth of 37.7% when compared to 2019.

Visit Maldives has been holding and participating in several events to promote the destination in top source, emerging and new markets. This includes webinars, fam trips, roadshows, fairs, and exhibitions. Activities planned for the Middle East for the year include joint marketing campaigns with Qatar Airways, Qatar Travel Mart 2021, Maldives Roadshow in Doha, a media influencer FAM trip and GCC region/ KSA (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) focused digital campaigns.