Visit Maldives takes part in the 3rd edition of the Travel Meet Asia-Mice & Corporate edition. Travel Meet Asia is a virtual travel roadshow which is held throughout the year. The MICE & Corporate virtual event is held from 9th to 10th June 2021 which is organized by ITB Asia. As Asia’s business travel market is rapidly growing, the event provides a great opportunity for Visit Maldives to capture the growing MICE and Corporate segment of the travel market.Together with Visit Maldives, Zeldiva Luxury will take part in the event.

The exclusive virtual event brings together over 300 attendees and over 100 invited international buyers. The event is filled with pre-scheduled business meetings with key buyers and outstanding conferences hosted by leading brands in the travel trade industry.

During the event, Visit Maldives and exhibitors will conduct exclusive networking sessions with members of MICE and Corporate to promote Maldives as an emerging top destination to conduct meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions. In addition, Visit Maldives will provide the latest destination information and travel guidelines as well as promote Maldives as a safe haven due to the naturally social-distanced geography and the stringent safety measures in place.

Visit Maldives will highlight several points as to why Maldives is the most perfect destination for MICE travel. In addition to the safety provided by the natural socially-distanced islands, Maldives will be promoted as the ideal setting for those seeking inspiring spaces for their meetings and conferences: providing a colorful example of couches set beneath palm trees offering an unparalleled ‘laid-back’ setting.

In addition, Maldives will be highlighted as a destination to seamlessly merge business with leisure by including the opportunity to indulge in once-in-a-lifetime activities such as snorkelling with mantas, a day out on an inhabited island, among many other uniquely-Maldivian experiences. These are among a few of the many reasons that will be highlighted to promote Maldives within the MICE community.

Visit Maldives took part in Travel Meet Asia two editions earlier this year. Taking part in this virtual event series is aligned with Visit Maldives’ strategy for establishing greater B2B connections with the travel trade community and taking part in major travel fairs, tradeshows and virtual events.

At the end of April 2021 Maldives recorded 2,742 travelers from the Southeast East Asian market and 93,742 from the South Asia market. Individuals from the region show deep interest in traveling to Maldives for their holidays once borders are open and travel restrictions are eased. Therefore, achieving pre-pandemic arrival figures from these markets show considerable potential.

Despite travel restrictions, Visit Maldives continues to maintain destination presence, strengthen brand visibility and promote Maldives as a safe haven destination in the Asian market. So far this year, Visit Maldives has taken part in the virtual event Travel Meet Asia: South East Asia and Antavaya Virtual Travel Fair to establish strong business connections and promote Maldives. In addition, Visit Maldives has also showcased in Travel+Leisure Southeast Asia and recently concluded a campaign with "Have Halal, Will Travel” to promote Maldives in the Muslim travel industry.

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 launches "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.