Visit Maldives hosts a group of journalists from the US market from 9th to 16th June 2021. This is the first familiarization trip conducted for the market this year and the purpose is to promote the destination as a safe haven for the travelers, highlighting the unique geographical formation of the Maldives as well as the safety measures in place.

The stay for the trip is arranged at Robinson Club Noonu, LUX* North Male’ Atoll and Kuramathi Maldives, with the 3 properties focusing on the theme of “Maldives as a safe haven”. Activities highlighting the natural beauty and the luxury aspects of the destination will be carried out during this trip to target the high-end travelers of the US market. The team is comprised of journalists who will have their content appear on major publications in online and offline channels such as Travel & Leisure, TripSavvy.com, Forbes, Insider Travel, LA Style, Citizen-Femme.com, TravelAge West and Travel Pulse to name a few. A combined circulation of over 500,000 print readers is reached with over 78 million on online channels.

This familiarization trip is in line with the strategies for the US market to create exposure and advertise focused segments of the destination. There are several other activities in the pipeline for the US market this year such as familiarization trips for influencers, joint marketing promotions with tour operators, virtual roadshow, webinars and participation in virtual and physical fairs such as the Ultra Summit show taking place in the upcoming month.

Despite the ongoing pandemic, steady growth has been observed from the US market, ending the year 2020 with 19,759 arrivals ranking as the 8th source market of tourist arrivals. As of 3rd June 2021, 15,914 arrivals were recorded from this market, ranking as the 6th market of top tourist arrivals for the year.

The tourism industry of the Maldives has shown remarkable resilience in the face of covid-19, welcoming a total of 555,494 travelers in 2020 and over 457,747 travelers till 2nd June 2021. The commencement of a nationwide vaccination program, increased flight connections, and the gradual opening of major markets, provide Visit Maldives the opportunity to further promote the destination with global campaigns in association with key stakeholders in the industry.

The administration of the covid-19 vaccine was initiated on 1st February 2021 with the government of Maldives aiming to provide free covid-19 vaccines to all citizens and residents of the country in the upcoming months. As of 4th June 2021, 311,325 people in the Maldives have received the first dose of the vaccine with 171,303 receiving the second dose. Over 90% of the workers in the tourism industry of the Maldives have also been administered the first dose of the vaccine. The initiation of the vaccination drive is bound to offer hope to the local population, as well as ensure the safety of tourists.