Visit Maldives welcomes influencers from the Middle Eastern market, as part of the ongoing “Rediscover Maldives…the sunny side of life” campaign. This is the second familiarization trip conducted after reopening the border.
The FAM trips are to exhibit the safety of traveling to the Maldives and initiate traveling of tourists from the Middle East Region to the archipelago, as major Middle Eastern borders have now reopened. The Maldives borders were reopened on 15 July to welcome back tourists, after taking all health and safety measures required for resorts and hotels to reopen.
On 26 October 2020, the FAM trip brought top influencers, Sherif Fayed and Becky Jefferies, to the Maldives. The Instagram stars are well-known travelers from Dubai, with over a million followers on the platform. For promotions, all their journeys and experiences exploring the island will be posted on their social media pages to bring their followers along for the ride.
PULLMAN Maldives Maamutaa and Hard Rock Hotel are to host the two guests for five nights in the Maldives, with unique experiences in signature cuisines, wellness activities, snorkeling, and much more.
Many marketing campaigns have been launched, targeting the Middle Eastern market, including a joint campaign with DNATA Travel and promotions with Emirates Woman targeting potential segments, to name a few. A series of webinars were also conducted for the travel trade of the Middle East market and other key markets, under the Rediscover Maldives campaign.
Multiple airlines have resumed flight operations to the Maldives as well, including Emirate Airlines, Qatar Airways, Etihad Airways, Saudi Arabian Airlines, and Gulf Air. FlyDubai would join the list when restarting its operations, on the 27th of October 2020.
The Middle East market is rising to be a leading tourist market to the Maldives, with a 15.1% increase from tourist arrivals, setting a record of 60,003 arrivals in 2019. Since the borders reopened, the Middle East ranked 2nd in terms of arrivals to the Maldives.
Other campaigns taken on by the Maldives Marketing & Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC), include outdoor brand visibility campaign in the UK, TTG Rimini travel Fair in Italy, global TV and digital campaign with CNN, Integrated webinar series for tour operators in China, campaigns with FVW Germany and Travel Weekly UK.
