Visit Maldives participates in the Luxury Travel Advisors ULTRA Summit for 2021 to maintain the destination presence and promote the Maldives as a unique luxury travel destination in the United States market. This exclusive B2B event will be held from 25th to 27th July in Texas, United States.

As 2020 forced many obstacles onto the luxury travel industry, the main objective of this year's summit is to maintain the destination brand on the travel radar as a safe haven for travelers in Luxury markets. This is the first physical fair that Visit Maldives has taken part in for this year targeting the US market.

Luxury Travel Advisor’s ULTRA Summit is one of the most successful events for the luxury travel segment in the USA. This B2B event is for companies that offer luxury products, who wish to establish new contacts and strengthen old ties in the USA markets.

This B2B event invites only pre-qualified, leading luxury travel agency owners and managers in the USA, who are eager to meet one-on-one with the crème de la crème of luxury travel suppliers. In addition to the intermarket exposure during the event, Maldives will also be promoted on the website banner, with a custom e-blast sent out to all attendees. The fair is in line with the Visit Maldives’ strategies for the US market, to increase the market exposure further, by participating in major fairs to expand B2B contact with tour agents and to extend connections with the diving market in the US region.

Despite the pandemic, since reopening of borders in 2020, Maldives has welcomed 27,759 tourists from the USA, notably ranking it among the top 10 markets with the most tourist arrivals to the Maldives. Furthermore, for this year, Maldives has scheduled familiarization trips, joint market campaigns with stakeholders, and various virtual events to increase the popularity of the small island nation within the  US market, including the participation in ILTM North America in September 2021 and the DEMA show in November 2021.

The Maldives welcomed a total of 690,252 travelers as of 3rd July 2021, since the border reopening 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 before their departure, as well as have a negative PCR test result, conducted 96 hours before their departure.

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.

As of 3rd July 2021, 317,316 people in the Maldives have received the first dose of the vaccine with 192,321 receiving the second dose. Under the campaign "I'm Vaccinated" launched by Visit Maldives together with the Ministry of Tourism, 90% of the tourism sector has received the first dose and 70% have been fully vaccinated. "I'm Vaccinated" campaign was launched 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 the Maldives the first destination with the 100% vaccinated tourism sector in the world.