Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) is the National Tourism promotion body mandated to carry out the marketing and promotions of Maldives as a tourist destination. During the last two months MMPRC carried out over 58 marketing activities. This includes in-person participation at international tourism fairs, major marketing campaigns, a variety of virtual events and smaller campaigns targeting B2B and B2C segments in 22 key markets across the globe. The activities were designed and executed with the primary aim of maintaining brand strength, promoting Maldives as a safe haven for travelers, and ultimately increasing arrival figures to pre-pandemic levels.
MMPRC’s goal is to sustain and enhance the destination’s idyllic image and it’s positioning as one of the most desired destinations in the world. At the same time, the key objective is to reassure travelers that Maldives remains one of the safest destinations to travel to during these unprecedented times. The campaigns conducted during the period, presented the Maldives as a ‘safe haven’ for holidaymakers. The safety and natural isolation offered to holiday makers due to the country’s unique geography and its one-island-one-resort concept, and the stringent health and safety measures in place have been the key the mesinallour marketing communications during the period. The content also focused on active updates of the arrival and departure guidelines, with the dual purpose of ensuring clarity and informing guests of the procedures in place, along with impressing upon them the reliability and comprehensiveness of the measures that are in place.
MMPRC, together with industry stakeholders and partners, has continued to work to ensure Maldives remain at the top of the mind of potential travelers and to keep them dreaming about the destination. The 58 marketing activities carried out in the last two months include six fairs (virtual and physical), global marketing campaigns (with Skyscanner, Trip advisor and Expedia), several webinars in different markets, two familiarization trips, two roadshows (Dubai in-person roadshow and South Korea online roadshow), an outdoor campaign in South Korea, several digital media campaigns on Visit Maldives official social media accounts and other smaller marketing campaigns on various platforms.
With the gradual increase in in-person fairs around the world, MMPRC is ensuring that Maldives takes full advantage of these events, with a strong presence and ensuring maximum exposure and visibility. As always, MMPRC opened up the opportunity for participation for all trade partners, to connect with the travel trade community and showcase their unique products and experiences. Arabian Travel Market (ATM), the leading international travel and tourism event for the Middle Eastern market was one of the major fairs in which MMPRC participated during the period. Over 69 partners representing 37 tourism establishments from across various sectors of the Maldives Tourism industry participated at the event.
This year’s ATM ran as a hybrid event with the live event taking place at the Dubai World Trade Centre from 16-19 May 2021 and a virtual event including webinars and video meetings taking place from 24-26 May 2021. On the sidelines of the fair, MMPRC hosted two events “The Maldives Media Meet” and “Connect with Maldives, your safe haven” for the Middle Eastern Media and the Travel Trade respectively.
During the last two months, MMPRC also participated in Luxury Travel Mart Moscow, BIT Virtual, World Travel Market Africa Virtual, FITUR International Tourism Fair in Spain with the aim of sharing the latest updates of the destination in those markets. Positive response and feedback were received from industry partners for the immense success achieved at these prominent travel trade fairs, roadshows, and other physical events.
MMPRC has also launched a virtual event management platform during April 2021. This virtual platform, “My Virtual Maldives” is aimed to amplify audience engagement and networking by connecting attendees from across the globe through hosted online events ranging from virtual exhibitions, roadshows, webinars to training and live marketing events targeting travel trade and consumers alike. So far, MMPRC has carried out two webinars for the French market and hosted a virtual fair & roadshow for the South Korean market on this platform. Furthermore, MMPRC has opened up the platforms for local industry partners to host their own events.
The “I’m Vaccinated” campaign conducted jointly by the Ministry of Tourism and MMPRC was also launched recently in order to offer further confidence to travelers, with the positive message regarding vaccination of staff working in the tourism sector, along with 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 Maldives the destination with the first fully vaccinated tourism sector in the world.
MMPRC will continue its strong and persistent marketing efforts in the coming months by targeting B2B and B2C on online as well as offline platforms and by continuously adapting to the changing market situation. It is our strategy to maintain destination presence, increase brand visibility and promote Maldives as the most preferred tourist destination in the world. These activities are also conducted in source markets that are closed at present, to ensure that Maldives is the top of the mind destination to travel, once their borders are open and travel restrictions are eased..
The main focus of MMPRC’s marketing effort would be on raising arrival numbers to pre-pandemic levels, re-orient the perception of Maldives solely as a honeymoon and a luxury destination, increasing the benefits of tourism to the community through greater emphasis on experiential tourism and maintaining tourism sustainability. Planned marketing activities include digital marketing activities, joint campaigns with trade partners, brand visibility campaigns, familiarization trips, and participation at key international trade fairs.
