Maldives wins the titles of the “Best Island Presentation” and “Bright Exhibiting Award” at the Moscow International Travel and Tourism Exhibition (MITT) held from 16th to 18th March 2021. The awards were given for the attractive presentation of the Maldives stand and overall effort in the promotion of the destination at the Fair respectively. During the ceremony, awards were given for both long-standing exhibitors and newcomers for outstanding preparation for the show, unusual and eye-catching stands, innovative projects and the best destinations.

Upon receiving the awards, Mr. Thoyyib Mohamed, Managing Director of Visit Maldives stated, “I am gratified by the awards of “Best Island Presentation'' and “Bright Exhibiting Award” received by Maldives at MITT, the first offline event in months. This is an extra encouragement to the efforts we, as an industry, are putting in the Russia and CIS markets. Undoubtedly, Russia being one of the most important and top performing source markets to the Maldives, I further perceive these wins as an indication of trust by Russians in the Maldives as a tourist destination”.

The design of the Maldives stand showcased the beauty of the Maldives through colourful visuals. Furthermore, visitors to the stand had the opportunity to immerse in the beauty through touchless 360-degree video experiences. Visit Maldives was fully prepared in line with safety guidelines and safety measures in place to create a safe business environment for the Maldives tourism industry stakeholders represented as well as for the visitors. Maldives stand attracted an array of Russian and International tourism industry players, decision makers and representatives indicating the interest towards Maldives.

MITT is recognised as Russia’s largest B2B tourism exhibition where travel service providers meet representatives from tour operators and travel agents from all over the world. This year’s MITT marks the first offline tourism exhibition in Russia after one year with 1,533 participants from 15 countries and 52 Russian regions exhibiting at the fair.  he Russian market is currently one of the top performing source markets to the Maldives, with a total of 4 connecting flights operating between Russia and Maldives with direct connections via Aeroflot. 40,698 tourist arrivals were recorded from the Russian region till date this year.