Visit Maldives promotes the destination at the Deluxe Travel Market - Oriental Edition targeting Russia and CIS region. The one day event held on 16th September 2021 at UAE’s Medinat Jumeirah, was aimed at promoting Maldives as a top of the mind destination to travel trade agents involved in promoting destinations to luxury travelers from Russia and CIS region (Kazakhastan, Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan). Exhibitors at this event included 5 star hotels, hotel chains and resorts, DMCs, tourism offices from the Middle East and Indian Ocean.

During this event, Visit Maldives provided the agents with the latest information about the destination, including the stringent measures in place at our products (Resorts, Hotels, Guesthouses and Liveaboards). We emphasized on the safety provided by our geographically scattered islands for luxury travelers from Russian and CIS market. We also promoted the destination as a haven for travelers from this market, looking for privacy, safety and experiences unique to Maldives.

We believe Deluxe Travel Market - Oriental Edition and other events alike would assist Visit Maldives to maintain destination momentum for luxury travelers in the top source market, Russia and other potential markets from CIS region.

Several initiatives have been conducted and are underway to market the destination in the Russian and CIS market by Visit Maldives. So far this year, Visit Maldives has participated in prominent fairs such as MITT 2021, Moscow Dive Show, Luxury Travel Mart (LTM) Moscow, The Big Ocean Show and held engaging roadshows across the country.

Visit Maldives also conducted a popular exhibition with National Geographic in Moscow & St. Petersburg showcasing the beauty and allure of the Maldives, and held a campaign with Expedia positioning Maldives as the top destination in the Russian and global market. Ongoing activities include a social media marketing campaign, training webinars with ATOR, Moya Planeta TV show broadcasts, and Co-op with TEZ tour.

As of 18th August 2021, Russia is the largest source market to Maldives with an impressive arrival figure of 154,380 travelers. With direct flight connectivity between Russia and Maldives through Aeroflot and ease of travel guidelines to Maldives, the Russian market plays a significant role in achieving pre-pandemic arrival figures. Maldives have welcomed a total of 700,594 travelers so far in 2021.

In order to maintain the momentum and further increase the arrival figure, Visit Maldives has planned informative webinars for the travel trade community, a media familiarization trip from Ukraine, and will take part in Ukraine International Travel Market.