The Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC / Visit Maldives) has invited several journalists from Japan to visit the Maldives on a familiarization (FAM) trip. The Japanese journalists arrived in the Maldives today for the event, which will be conducted from 11th - 17th January 2022. This is the first FAM trip organized by MMPRC this year. 

The journalists from Japan consist of writers from publications and magazines which are highly popular among affluent audiences in the Japanese market, with a combined reach of millions. The team is accompanied by MMPRC's Public Relations Representative for Japan. The team of journalists will be hosted at Pullman Maldives Maamutaa and Mercure Maldives Kooddoo resort. During their stay, the team will familiarise themselves with the world-renowned Maldivian hospitality and unique experiences on offer for holidaymakers. 

Following the trip, the journalists from Japan will write about their experiences for several publications in online and offline travel media, including reports of hosting airline and resorts.  This trip provides the Maldives with the perfect opportunity to promote the destination as a safe haven for travellers from the Japanese market through online articles, publications and the individual social media platforms of the visiting journalists. 

This trip is part of MMPRC’s marketing strategy for the Japanese market, which focuses on building greater brand awareness and promoting different segments of tourism available in the Maldives to the Japanese travel trade and travellers. Through such activities, we aim to provide; the latest information about the travel guidelines; promote our resorts, hotels, guesthouses and liveaboards; advocate the strict health and safety measures in place; and advertise the unique experiences available to Japanese tourists from the Maldives. Further emphasis is placed in promoting the unique geography of our scattered islands, which provides natural social distance for tourists, making it one of the safest destinations in the world. 

In 2019, a total of 44,251 travellers arrived in the Maldives from Japan, ranking the island nation as the 9th top source market for Maldivian tourism. The Japanese border is currently open, however, many restrictions are in place for domestic and international travel. Due to the Omicron variant, some of the previously eased regulations had been reinstated. However, the total Covid-19 cases in Japan remain extremely low due to these restrictions - there are less than 150 positive cases reported per day and this has been sustained for the last 5 months. MMPRC aims to maintain destination presence and to place Maldives as the top choice destination to travel to as soon as the Japanese borders open for international travel. Activities in the pipeline for the Japanese market include media and celebrity familiarization trips, and social media campaigns.  

As the company responsible for marketing the Maldives as a destination abroad, MMPRC carried out 260 different marketing activities in 22 global markets last year, including fairs, roadshows, familiarisation trips, marketing campaigns, webinars, and interviews. The greatest testament to the success of these activities came late last year, as the Maldives secured the title of ‘World’s Leading Destination’ (among several other accolades) at the 2021 World Travel Awards, globally recognised as the hallmark of industry excellence. This is the second consecutive year that the Maldives had successfully earned this prestigious title, a shining testimony of the trust placed in the ‘magic of Maldivian hospitality’ by travellers from all over the globe. 

This year also celebrates an exceptional year to visit the Maldives – the Golden Jubilee celebration of tourism in the Maldives kicked off earlier last year with plans to conduct new and exciting activities throughout the year. MMPRC has planned over 60 in-person events for the year 2022, including 11 fairs, roadshows and events scheduled for just the first quarter.