Visit Maldives conducts a joint marketing promotion with one of the leading Airline in Spain Market, Iberia Airlines to promote Maldives as the top of the mind destination and a safe haven for Spanish travellers. A combination of onboard, online, social media and external actions will be conducted as part of this exciting campaign during July and August 2021.

The joint marketing campaign will help boost arrivals from the Spanish market and strengthen destination presence across Europe and Latin america. In addition, the campaign aims to encourage and inspire travelers to book Maldives for their upcoming Summer holidays which will ultimately help to rebuild and recover the Spanish market after the pandemic-imposed travel restrictions.

Flying to 48 countries and 138 destinations across the globe, Iberia Airline is one of the leading airlines in Europe and the Latin American market. Statistics indicate that an impressive 7 million travellers visit Iberia Airlines each month and the airlines have over 2 million followers on their social media platforms.

As part of the onboard actions, Maldives will be featured in Iberian Airlines boarding passes and advertised in the business cabin. A main banner of Maldives will be featured in the Iberia Airlines’ website homepage and Maldives will also be featured in Iberia’s newsletters. Content on the sought-after products and unique experiences of Maldives will be included in the digital magazine for Iberia plus clients.

In addition, an exciting online auction will also be held for a plane ticket from Madrid to Male’ under this campaign. Maldives will also be featured on Iberia’s instagram page through posts and stories and the destination will be promoted in several popular travel trade blogs and magazines throughout the campaign period.

On 3rd July 2021, Iberia, national flag carrier of Spain, commenced direct flight operations between Madrid and Male’ with 218 passengers traveling onboard Iberia’s maiden flight to Maldives. From July until 30 August 2021, the Spanish airline will make three weekly flights to the Maldives. Maldives holds the position as Iberia’s first Indian ocean destination and the route will increase the arrival figures from Spain and Southern Europe market within the next few months.

Earlier this year, Visit Maldives took part in FITUR, leading travel trade show in Spain, to promote Maldives as a top of the mind and safe haven destinatination in the Spanish market. In addition, a digital campaign was conducted with the Passporter App followed by an influencer familiarization. Other activities in the pipeline include media and media fam trips targeting the Spanish market.

As of May 2021, Maldives has welcomed over 6,249 travelers from the Spanish market, ranking the market as the 13th top market for Maldives. With direct connectivity from Madrid to Male’, the arrivals from Spain are expected to increase within the next few months. As of 30th June 2021, the Maldives has welcomed a total of 510,549 travelers.

Maldives reopened its borders for tourists of all nationalities on 15th July 2020, with rigorous procedures in place to ensure the safety of tourists and tourism workers. Tourists are required to fill an online health declaration form within 24 hours prior to their departure, as well as have a negative PCR test result, conducted 96 hours prior to their departure.In order to strengthen the measures, the administration of the Covid-19 vaccine was initiated on 1st February 2021 with the government of Maldives set to provide free COVID-19 vaccines to all citizens and residents of the country in the upcoming months.

Visit Maldives together with the Ministry of Tourism launches "I'm Vaccinated" campaign in order to share a positive message regarding the vaccination of staff working in the tourism sector as well as promoting the initiatives undertaken to ensure the Maldives remains one of the safest destinations in the world for travelers. The ultimate target is to make Maldives the destination with the first fully vaccinated tourism sector in the world.