The Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC/Visit Maldives) is taking part in the MATKA Nordic Travel Fair 2023 to promote the Sunny Side of Life to the Nordic travel trade and consumers. The event is being held from 19 to 22 January 2023 at the Messukeskus Helsinki Expo and Convention Centre in Helsinki, Finland. There are 13 Industry partners taking part in the fair alongside MMPRC. MMPRC is taking part in the fair after a 02 year hiatus. 

MATKA is the largest travel fair in Northern Europe, bringing together over 1000 travel organisers, destinations, and tourism organisations from over 80 countries. Over 68,000 visitors are expected to attend the travel fair. MMPRC’s attendance at the prestigious fair will strengthen the Maldives’ brand presence in the Nordic market, provide an extensive networking platform for industry partners, and provide access to ground-breaking insights into industry trends and patterns. 

The Maldives’ stand at MATKA 2023 is eloquently designed to represent the beauty and allure of the Maldivian islands. The eye-catching stand is designed to facilitate comfortable and productive B2B meetings between industry partners and fair participants. Visitors can also take photos in a traditional space in the stand and use special Maldives-themed social media filters to post on their respective accounts. Visitors will also receive a calligraphy bookmark and the chance to taste Maldivian delicacies. 

The highly affluent Nordic market is a promising market for the Maldives tourism industry. 30,493 travellers visited the Maldives from the Nordic market in 2022. MMPRC conducts several campaigns throughout the year for this market, including a campaign with Blixen tours, a media familiarisation trip with top-tier Nordic publications, and a webinar for the Nordic travel trade last year. Several high-profile campaigns are planned for this year as well. In line with the marketing strategy for the Nordic market, we will be working with airlines, tour operators and other travel industry vendors to further strengthen the destination presence

In 2022, MMPRC conducted over 90 marketing campaigns, attended 42 Fairs, hosted 06 Roadshows, 10 Virtual Events, 18 familiarisation trips, and 10 other events were executed worldwide. The total number of marketing activities for the year was 176 with a total reach of over 8,799,249,501. The national tourist arrivals target set by H.E President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih for the year 2022 was also reached in December 2022, as the Maldives welcomed our 1.6 millionth visitor for the year two weeks ahead of the end of the year. In addition to this, the Maldives secured the title of the ‘World’s Leading Destination’ for the third year in a row in 2022 at World Travel Awards. MMPRC was also awarded the prestigious title of 'World's Leading Tourist Board' for the first time in our nation's history.