Together with industry partners, Visit Maldives has participated in Travel Meet Asia’s Southeast Asian event. This event is the second part of a four-part virtual travel roadshow organized by ITB Asia, focusing on different regions of the Asian continent. This includes South Asia, Southeast Asia, Mice & Corporate, and Northeast Asia. Visit Maldives has previously participated in the South Asian rendition of the series.

From the organizers of ITB Asia, Travel Meet Asia’s South East Asia provides up-to-date content on major tourism trends and developments, and an exclusive networking opportunity with MICE, Corporate and Leisure buyers from South-East Asian outbound markets. This two-day event, which would be live from 24th to 25th February 2021, will be attended by 7 Maldivian tourism companies alongside representatives of Visit Maldives, with an aim of providing information about the well-established precautionary standards within the Maldives, the natural beauty of our island-nation, and the unique experiences available in Maldivian establishments.

To boost the visibility in this Southeast Asian region, Visit Maldives has been actively promoting the stringent safety measures undertaken in the Maldives in relation to COVID-19, and ensuring Maldives to be a safe haven for South East Asian travellers through online, social media and digital marketing campaigns. Additionally, large-scaled joint marketing campaigns with prominent names such as TripAdvisor, also promotes the Maldives within the South Eastern region.

In 2020, 12,746 tourists visited the Maldives from the South East Asian market, which represents a considerable drop from 2019’s value of 87,636 due to the COVID-19 restrictions. However, individuals from the region continuously showcase their interest to travel to the Maldives upon ease-down measures being implemented within the region. As such, the goal of slowly, but surely reaching pre-pandemic arrival numbers from South East Asia shows consistent potential.