Visit Maldives has launched a digital media marketing campaign for the South Korean Market this March. This campaign is to be carried out for a period of 7 months and serves to position the Maldives as the leading travel destination through digital platforms that are popular in the target market. These platforms are Naver, Kakao Talk, Facebook & Instagram.

Naver is South Korea’s largest web portal and is frequently referred to as the “Google of South Korea” with over 200 million users. The channel will be used to provide updated information for travelers in their planning stage. This includes frequent searches about the destination such as Covid 19 status and restrictions, accommodation options and weather. Throughout the campaign, keywords and customized ads on this platform will increase destination exposure during peak seasons. Additionally, there will be weekly blog posts.

On Facebook and Instagram, content will be shared that serves to inspire travelers. Posts will feature scenic views of the Maldives and experiences unique to the destination. Moreover, the posts will also provide visual information on accommodation types and travel tips. Instagram and Facebook are marked as the most used social media app by Koreans, with an average usage of 4.2 billion minutes. Kakao Talk, which is the number one free mobile instant messaging application in Korea. It has over 220 million registered accounts and 8.49 million monthly users. Weekly content will be posted in the  Maldives account in the form of mini campaigns and quizzes to interact with the users.

Overall, promotions across these digital platforms will strengthen brand visibility, enhance destination presence and inspire travelers to travel to Maldives.

There were 5,895 visitors from South Korea in 2020. This figure is a marked decrease from previous years and has been severely impacted by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. However, with 4 major airlines currently operating in 2021, the South Korean market holds significant potential. Several activities are in the pipeline for this particular market to maximize arrivals for the year 2021.This includes a virtual fair and webinar with industry professionals scheduled for April, ads on various travel and luxury magazines, and an OOH campaign that will place destination media on major subway station platforms in the market.