Visit Maldives along with industry partners promoted Maldives as a safe haven for Indian travellers at one of the largest virtual travel and trade exhibitions held in India, SATTE GenX. The event was held from 20th to 21st September.

SATTE GenX offers travel trade professionals the opportunity to network and connect with the target audience under one platform. This Virtual Expo is a part of India's broader plan to gradually reopen the travel, tourism and hospitality sector. It provided participants the chance to create mutually beneficial business partnerships.

During the event, Maldives was given the opportunity to present the destination to the attendees of the digital event. Speaking during a panel discussion held as part of the exhibition, Managing Director of Visit Maldives, Thoyyib Mohamed spoke about how the pandemic affected the global tourism industry. He noted that it was especially challenging for Maldives as we are heavily reliant on tourism. He highlighted the strict measures in place in the destination, noting that we offer a safe, holistics and unique experience for all travelers.

Visit Maldives and industry partners took part in the exhibition, as part of our efforts to create destination awareness and promote Maldives as a safe haven for Indian travellers, following the lifting of covid travel

restrictions. This event was a great opportunity for Maldives to provide the latest information about the destination to Indian travel trade, market our products (resorts, guesthouses, hotels and liveaboards) and services and share the experiences unique to Maldives. The Maldivian virtual stand received 600 visitors during the two days of the exhibition.

SATTE GenX 2020 virtual expo was attended by more than 6,100 travel professionals with more than 26,000 interactions during the 2 days of the event. SATTE GenX 2021 will enable Maldives to further advertise and strengthen destination presence across the Indian market. This year's event connected us with over 100 travel trade professionals from India, which would help increase future bookings and arrivals from India to Maldives.

India is the top source market for Maldives this year. By September 15th 2021, Maldives welcomed 817,387 tourists to the country, out of which 22.5% or 184,236 tourists were from India. With growing numbers of arrivals from the country, India has been among the top source markets during the last few years.