The Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC / Visit Maldives) has invited a team of writers and editors from prominent publications from the Middle East for a familiarization trip. This team is visiting Maldives for the trip from 04th - 10th March 2022.

The writers and editors visiting Maldives on this trip are from major luxury and lifestyle publications of the Middle East, particularly from Saudi Arabia, which are highly popular among affluent audiences. They will be hosted at Sheraton Maldives Full Moon Resort & Spa, The Westin Maldives Miriandhoo Resort and Kuramathi Maldives. During their stay, the team will familiarize themselves with the world-renowned Maldivian hospitality and unique experiences on offer for holidaymakers, especially for luxury travelers.

Following the trip, this team will publish articles and pieces on the Maldivian hospitality, which is expected to help maintain destination momentum and increase booking and arrivals from countries like Saudi Arabia from the Middle East. This trip provides the Maldives with the perfect opportunity to promote the destination as a safe haven for travelers from Saudi and other countries in the Middle East through online articles, publications and the individual social media platforms of the visiting team.

This trip is part of MMPRC’s marketing strategy for the Middle Eastern market, which focuses on building greater brand awareness and promoting different segments of tourism available in the Maldives for luxury, family and honeymoon travelers from this market. Through such activities, we aim to; provide the latest information about the travel guidelines; promote our resorts, hotels, guesthouses and liveaboards; advocate the strict health and safety measures in place; and advertise the unique experiences available to Middle Eastern tourists from the Maldives. The strategy further emphasizes promoting the unique geography of our scattered islands, which provides natural social distance for tourists, making it one of the safest destinations in the world.

The Maldives has received 3,189 arrivals from Saudi Arabia in the month of January 2022. Saudi Arabia was among the top source markets in 2021 as well, ranking 6th overall. MMPRC has been conducting several activities targeting Saudi Arabia and the wider Middle Eastern market, including joint campaigns, participation in major fairs, exhibitions, roadshows, webinars, and FAM trips. Activities planned for the market for this year include participation in prominent fairs such as the Arabian Travel Market 2022, ILTM Arabia 2022, and Riyadh Travel Fair 2022. MMPRC further plans to conduct activities such as the Maldives Roadshow in Dubai, Media FAM Trips, and other marketing campaigns targeted at the Middle Eastern Market.

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.