Visit Maldives has concluded India’s leading B2B exhibition SATTE’s 28th edition at the India Expo Center, Greater Noida. The three day event held from March 24-26, 2021, witnessed participation of over 10,000 visitors from cross-sections of travel, tourism and hospitality industries.
The Maldivian delegation for the events in India was led by Hon. Dr. Abdulla Mausoom, Minister of Tourism; Mr. Thoyyib Mohamed, Managing Director of Visit Maldives and Dr. Hussain Niyaz, High Commissioner of Maldives to India.
Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, Tourism Minister Dr. Abdulla Mausoom said, “SATTE 2021 is a crucial way forward to move past the crisis, which will echo across the globe.” He also thanked Indian Govt. for their support, Indian tourists for visiting Maldives and playing an important role in making it the next door travel destination. By the end of this year, more than 3,00,000 Indian tourists are expected to visit Maldives which is a highest recorded number for any country. Dr. Mausoom added “Indians are hard-working individuals, be it IT professionals, doctors or executive class – they all need a vacation break, and we are working to kickstart our North airport which will cut the travel time by 45 minutes for Indian tourists. Very soon Maldives is all set to become the first country to initiate Vaccine Tourism called as “3V”- “Visit, Vaccinate and Vacation”; it will give travelers the option to get vaccinated against Covid-19 in the Maldives and promote it as a safe destination for tourists.”
Maldives has been one of the most preferred destinations among Indian celebrities within the past few months. Bollywood celebrities such as Taapsee Pannu, Varun Dhawan, Tiger Shroff, Disha Patani and Neha Dhupia are among some of the celebrities who spent their vacation in the island nation. The exposure from celebrity vacations have greatly increased the awareness within India about Maldives as one of the most preferred and safe destinations.
Furthermore, the month of March has been fruitful for the Maldives in the Indian market as the very first offline events in India were also kicked off on 22nd March 2021. This included a high-level press conference followed by a Roadshow in Delhi hosted by Visit Maldives.
Statistics published by the Ministry of Tourism reveals that India is currently the top source market for tourism in the Maldives. The latest statistics published by the Ministry of Tourism indicates that as of 24th March 2021 Maldives welcomed a total of 269,504 travelers with an arrival figure of 64,059 travelers from India. Visit Maldives plans to continue this momentum of growth by conducting several marketing activities in India.
Maldives reopened its borders on 15th July 2020 with stringent safety measures to ensure the safety for all tourists and the citizens, and to utilize the naturally distanced nature of the islands for all tourists. Additionally, the COVID-19 vaccination program has been commenced across the Maldives, and the country’s tourism is recovering with impressive results in 2021. With regards to the Indian market, there are several activities ongoing and planned to promote Maldives as a safe haven for travelers. Visit Maldives is currently collaborating with Wedding Sutra, Thomas Cook, and MakeMyTrip, and is in discussion to conduct other similar activities to promote the destination within the region.
Visit Maldives has concluded @SATTE_India. Thank you to all the participants that visited our booth . Congratulations to all the raffle winners for winning holidays to @Adaaranmaldives, @HRHMaldives and SAii Lagoon Maldives#SATTE2021 #WorldsLeadingDestination #Maldives pic.twitter.com/bT1Nz8Bc7V
— Visit Maldives (@visitmaldives) April 4, 2021
