Visit Maldives has commenced a major campaign with Expedia Group to promote Maldives as one of the most secluded and serene destinations in the world for tourists.

The purpose of this four-month campaign targeting Russia, Middle East, China and India, among the key source markets of the destination, is to assure potential travellers that the Maldives remains one of the most accessible destinations during this unprecedented situation. The key messaging of this campaign will highlight the unique geographical formation of the island nation, owing to the natural dispersion of the islands - ensuring a worry free holiday for the travelers.

Created in partnership with Expedia Group Media Solutions, the marketing organisation of Expedia Group, this campaign is expected to reach over 23 million people, targeting potential travellers in all the phases of the consumer journey in the focus markets. Through this campaign, notable achievements to the destination such as winning the World’s Leading Destination, achieving the Safe Travels Stamp by World Travel & Tourism Council, launching of Maldives Border Miles and Allied Inbound will also be highlighted on the destination landing page on the platform. Further to this, experiences which are unique to the destination will be portrayed to entice the travellers.

Expedia Group is one of the world’s leading full-service online travel brands helping travelers easily plan and book travel from the widest selection of vacation packages, flights, hotels, vacation rentals, rental cars, cruises, activities, attractions, and services. The year 2021 started with focus on new strategies that have been adopted to ensure the goals of achieving pre pandemic arrival. In this regard, several marketing activities are already in the pipeline such as joint promotions with tour operators and airlines, participation in key travel trade fairs, roadshows and familiarization trips targeted to media, influencers and celebrities to promote the destination in various markets. Besides these activities prominence would be given to digital, social media and virtual activities to maintain the destination presence and promote Maldives as the most preferred destination across the globe.

By the end of 2020, Maldives celebrated the remarkable achievement of receiving 500,000 tourists amidst an ongoing pandemic. Currently, the Russian market is one of the top performing markets according to the latest statistics by the Ministry of Tourism. India and Middle Eastern markets are also showing steady growth in terms of arrivals. While China has been one of the traditionally strongest markets in terms of arrivals to Maldives prior to the pandemic, several marketing efforts are still underway to maintain the presence in the Chinese market as it opens for outbound travel again.