Visit Maldives has successfully launched two marketing activities in China; the launch of the Maldives Online Roadshow and an information portal for travel trade on WeChat.
The Maldives Online Roadshow which is held from 30 November 2020 to 2 December 2020, consists of three sections. The first section was held on 30 of November, where an in-depth presentation of the Maldives tourism was given to the travel trade. Other sections include an online exhibition which will run from 30 November till February 2021, and one on one meetings from 1 December to 2 December 2020. Along with 11 other tourism industry partners, Visit Maldives will be sharing updated travel and product information with the top travel agents from China via the online exhibition.
Visit Maldives will be partaking in scheduled one-to-one meetings where the emphasis will be given to marketing the safety standards put in place to ensure that the Maldives is one of the safest destinations to travel to and that the geographical formation of the island nation further aids in this. In addition, these meetings will also help to identify strategies to further improve the market performance and strengthen the presence of the destination within the market.
The china travel trade information portal will also be launched during the roadshow, which is to be a mini-program on WeChat. WeChat is one of the most popular social media apps in China, which has over 1.2 billion monthly active users and is known to be one of the most important information hubs for Chinese travelers. The mini-programs are built-in apps that are a part of the WeChat ecosystem, connecting social lives through communication and service.
China Travel Trade information portal can be accessed by China travel trade via WeChat without installing any additional application. The main objective of the portal is to continue the efforts of rebuilding confidence in the destination and to maintain direct communication with the Chinese travel trade by sharing up to date information.
China is one of the top tourist arrival markets in the Maldives, with a total of 284,029 tourists from China to Maldives in 2019. Prior to the closing of borders of the China Market due to pandemic, a total of a total of 31,744 tourist arrivals were recorded in January from this market which was a 23% growth compared to the same period last year.
Visit Maldives has been continuously running several campaigns throughout the year to reassure Chinese visitors and keep them dreaming of the destination. The hope is to continue the growth of tourist arrivals from China when outbound travel resumes from the market once again. These campaigns include several digital campaigns on Weibo and WeChat, Outdoor Campaigns in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, several Media interviews, and joint campaigns with tour operators.
