In order to promote Maldives as a top of the mind safe haven destination in the Russian market, Visit Maldives collaborates with National Geographic Traveller Russia for a physical photo exhibition in two major cities of Russia. The physical exhibition will be held from 16 - 30th June in Moscow followed by an exhibition in St. Petersburg.

The exhibit in Moscow is held at Tverskoy Boulevard, one of the main streets in Moscow with high daily traffic. The exhibit in St. Petersburg will be held in Kirov Central Park, a dynamically developing cultural and recreational space, suitable for audiences of different age groups and interests. As the exhibits are held during summer, it is estimated to attract a total of 3-5 million people.

The exhibition will feature photos showcasing the breathtaking natural scenery of Maldives and the local island lifestyle. The photos highlight the four Maldives tourism products and the unique variety of experiences offered in Maldives such as diving with whale sharks, flying aboard a seaplane and surfing the majestic waves of Maldives. Furthermore, the photographs represent the Maldives as a safe haven destination due to the unique geography and the natural socially-distanced islands of Maldives.

In addition to the physical exhibit, materials of the exhibition will be featured and published by the Russian National Geographic website, National Geographic social media handles and a virtual photo exhibition. 3 articles will be written in connection with the exhibit and the project will also be supported on Facebook, VK and Telegram. An estimated total of 5 million will be reached digitally.

The exhibition is held following the Visit Maldives’ invitation of a renowned photographer, Ivan Dementievsky, earlier this year in March. Some photographs by local photographers will also be featured in the exhibition. Visit Maldives aims to promote and highlight the culture, traditions, heritage and the local island experience of Maldives. Several initiatives are underway to market the destination in Russia. In this regard, high impact campaigns on both offline and online platforms are in the pipeline for the market with several more collaborations with media and key stakeholders in the market.

Several initiatives have been conducted and are underway to market the destination in the Russian market. Visit Maldives attended MITT 2021, the largest travel trade show in Russia, held in March 2021. Notably, Maldives won ‘Best Island Presentation’ and ‘Bright Exhibiting Award’ during this fair. Visit Maldives also hosted a roadshow in four major Russian cities to promote Maldives as the most preferred holiday destination for Russian travellers.

Similarly, Visit Maldives also took part in Moscow Dive Show to promote the dive segment and also joined Russia’s popular Luxury Travel Mart 2021 (LTM) in April 2021. Visit Maldives has previously hosted a TV crew from Moya Planeta, a top TV channel in Russia with the broadcast of the episode shot in Maldives scheduled to air this month. Several media familiarization trips have been conducted during the first quarter of this year targeting Russia & CIS region. Visit Maldives invited a group of journalists to experience the offers of the destination in May 2021 as well.

In addition, Visit Maldives is conducting a global campaign targeting Russia in collaboration with Expedia. The collaboration with Expedia is one of the many impactful global campaigns planned for the year. Visit Maldives has carried out an educational and training programme targeted to the Russian travel trade with Association of Tour Operators in Russia (ATOR).

Russia is the largest source market of tourist arrivals to the Maldives. As of 2nd June 2021, Maldives have welcomed a total of 107,102. With direct flight connectivity between Russia and Maldives through Aeroflot and ease of travel guidelines to Maldives, the Russian market plays an incremental role in achieving pre-pandemic arrival figures. Maldives have welcomed a total of 479,597 travelers so far in 2021.

Maldives reopened its borders for tourists of all nationalities on 15th July 2020, with rigorous procedures in place to ensure the safety of tourists and tourism workers. Tourists are required to fill an online health declaration form within 24 hours prior to their departure, as well as have a negative PCR test result, conducted 96 hours prior to their departure

The administration of the COVID-19 vaccine was initiated on 1st February 2021 with the government of Maldives set to provide free COVID-19 vaccines to all citizens and residents of the country in the upcoming months. Visit Maldives together with the Ministry of Tourism launched the "I'm Vaccinated" campaign in order to share a positive message regarding the vaccination of staff working in the tourism sector as well as promoting the initiatives undertaken to ensure the Maldives remains one of the safest destinations in the world for travelers. The ultimate target is to make Maldives the destination with the first fully vaccinated tourism sector in the world.