Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation, (MMPRC/ Visit Maldives) has held a webinar titled “Connect with Maldives – Your Safe Haven” aimed at the South Korean travel trade. The 1-hour webinar was held on Zoom on 03rd March 2022 and was attended by top travel agents and journalists from South Korea.

Opening the webinar, Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer of MMPRC, Thoyyib Mohamed, highlighted the safety and unique experiences offered to tourists in the Maldives. He spoke of safety measures in place at our products (resorts, hotels, guesthouses, liveaboards and homestays), the efforts by the authorities to vaccinate all employees working in the tourism sector, and unique experiences tourists can enjoy while vacationing in the Maldives.

The main purpose of the webinar is to promote Maldives as a safe haven for travelers and update the South Korean travel trade with the latest information and travel guidelines from the destination. It also provided opportunities for our industry partners to showcase their products. Furthermore, through the webinar, MMPRC promoted the geographical advantages of the scattered islands of Maldives, allowing natural social distancing making Maldives one of the safest destinations for tourists.

Grand Park Kodhipparu, Amari Havodda and Crossroads Maldives participated in this webinar along with MMPRC. A raffle was also drawn during the webinar, for which two participants won a free all inclusive  stay for 5 nights in the Maldives through a special quiz held at the webinar. The free holiday raffles were sponsored by Crossroads Maldives and Grand Park Kodhipparu.

The webinar was held in line with MMPRC’s strategy to maintain the destination presence in the South Korean market and to efficiently promote various segments of tourism to travel trade professionals. This strategy aims to assist the destination increase future bookings and arrival figures from South Korea once the market lifts travel restrictions.

In 2021, a total of 1,312,706 tourists arrived in the Maldives from which 6839 were from South Korea. As of 31st January 2022, the Maldives has welcomed 990 tourists from this market this year.

MMPRC organized and participated in various activities targeting the South Korean market in 2021 including the Naver Live Campaign with Singapore Airlines, Honeymoon Fair with Palm Tour, and Print Media Advertising Campaigns with Noblesse and Trevie. Similar webinars for South Korea travel trade were also held in 2021, along with outdoor advertising campaigns and South Korea Virtual Roadshow. Activities planned for this year for the South Korean market include Influencer FAM trips, participation in Honeymoon Fair, Outdoor Campaigns, and SMM and Digital Advertising Campaign.

As the company responsible for marketing the Maldives as a destination abroad, MMPRC carried out 260 different marketing activities in 22 global markets last year, including fairs, roadshows, familiarization trips, marketing campaigns, webinars, and interviews. The greatest testament to the success of these activities came late last year, as the Maldives secured the title of ‘World’s Leading Destination’ (among several other accolades) at the 2021 World Travel Awards, globally recognised as the hallmark of industry excellence. This is the second consecutive year that the Maldives had successfully earned this prestigious title, a shining testimony of the trust placed in the ‘magic of Maldivian hospitality’ by travelers from all over the globe. 

This year also celebrates an exceptional year to visit the Maldives – the Golden Jubilee celebration of tourism in the Maldives kicked off earlier last year with plans to conduct new and exciting activities throughout the year. MMPRC has planned over 60 in-person events for the year 2022, including 11 fairs, roadshows and events scheduled for just the first quarter.