Male’, Maldives, 25th September 2022 – MMPRC / Visit Maldives is representing the destination to travel trade and consumers at Tourism EXPO Japan. This is the first in-person event MMPRC is partaking in the Japanese market since the onset of the global pandemic. The event is taking place from 22nd – 25th September at Tokyo Big Sight.
Internationally recognized as one of the largest travel events in Japan, Tourism Expo Japan is a stepping stone for further developing outbound, inbound, and domestic travel from Japan. It provides abundant opportunities for travel professionals to exchange travel information and conduct effective business meetings, while inspiring consumers through the power of travel.
The Maldives will be exhibited in a 63sqm stand space with the destination’s unique aspects and experiences showcased via images that are popular among the Japanese travellers. 12 representatives from 6 companies from the industry will participate in the fair alongside MMPRC. Through this event, destination marketing will be carried out emphasising on the Maldives’ tourism products (resorts, hotels, guesthouses, liveaboards), and the unique experiences available to visitors in the Maldives. Furthermore, the unique geography of the Maldives and different segments (romance, honeymoon, family, adventure, water sports/dive, & MICE) that it cater to will be highlighted to the visitors to the Maldives stand.
Prior to the pandemic, Japan was a promising market, ranked as the top 9th top source market for Maldives in 2019. Japan was closed internationally for the past two years, after which they have only opened recently. Until 10th August 2022, 2,909 arrivals from Japan were recorded. The market has potential for growth with the expectation of better arrival numbers forecasted for ensuing months.
Several activities were carried out in the Japanese market during the pandemic to maintain destination presence and momentum. Under this effort, digital campaigns were conducted with leading travel trade and media partners and destination information webinars were conducted for Japanese travel agents/tour operators. Earlier in the year, a media FAM trip was conducted for this market, attended by officials from high-profile media & publications in Japan.
