Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC/Visit Maldives) has participated in leading Global media platform Travmedia’s International Media Marketplace (IMM), held in Germany. The Maldives is being represented at the fair on behalf of MMPRC by the PR agency designated for the German market, Kaus Media Services. This B2B event took place on 8th March 2022.

Travmedia’s International Media Marketplace (IMM) is held in different markets and is a leading global networking event, connecting the travel industry with top journalists, editors, influencers and broadcasters. This is the 10th edition of the annual event, which is unrivaled for relationship building and networking opportunities. The IMM event held in Germany would provide exhibitors the opportunity to hold discussions and form alliances with travel trade partners from Germany, Austria and Switzerland. This year, IMM events are expected to attract over 5665 exhibitors with an estimated 10,500 media personnel attending and covering the events.

The main purpose of participating in this event is to promote the Maldives as a top of the mind destination and to update the German, Austrian and Swiss travel trade with the latest travel guidelines to the Maldives. Through the event, MMPRC showcased the geographical advantages of the scattered islands of Maldives, allowing natural social distancing making Maldives one of the safest destinations for tourists. Through this event, MMPRC was able to market our products, including resorts, hotels, guesthouses/homestays and liveaboards, and the unique experiences available for tourists in the Maldives to the German, Austria and Swiss markets. We also got the opportunity to share the stringent measures in place in our tourism facilities, as well as vaccination and covid updates during this event.

MMPRC’s participation in IMM is in line with our strategy to maintain destination presence in this market and to efficiently promote various segments of tourism to travel trade professionals. This strategy aims to assist the destination to increase future bookings and arrival figures from Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

The Maldives welcomed over 1.3 million visitors in 2021, out of which 94,784 (or 7.2% market share) was attributed to visitors from Germany, Austria and Switzerland. MMPRC has been holding several activities to maintain destination presence and increase arrivals from these countries. This includes joint campaigns with Let’s Go Tours, Connoisseur Circle, Imagine Magazine and Bentley Club Magazine. MMPRC also held events with Manta Reisen, Travel Impressions (American Express), TUI Germany & Austria, Condor, as well as a special media event for the Swiss & Austrian markets. Many similar activities are planned ahead for this market for 2022 as well.

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.