Visit Maldives, on Tuesday, held a press conference to highlight the achievements of 2020 and reveal planned activities for the upcoming year.
Despite noting that initial marketing plans for 2020 consisted of campaigns to boost brand visibility as well as creative initiatives to promote experiential tourism and niche segments, Visit Maldives stated that the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic prompted the shift of all planned activities to social and digital media platforms.
Following the change, Visit Maldives revealed that continuous assessments were conducted concerning evolving challenges faced under efforts to React, Rethink and Recover.
Under the aforementioned three phases, Visit Maldives focused on maintaining visibility online, providing tourism industry stakeholders and tourists with regular updates on Maldives' travel restrictions and safety measures, as well as promoting the country as a safe destination through several activities in different source markets.
While all source markets were monitored closely to improve strategies formulated for targeted activities, the dissemination of immersive content was prioritised.
Visit Maldives highlighted that the pandemic marketing approach was developed in line with the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)'s key message of "staying home today means traveling tomorrow".
Overall, 314 out of 412 activities were conducted as per a crisis plan.
"We have consistently worked together with the government, stakeholders and tourism industry to ensure the maximum utilization of our potential and resources in achieving our goals. The team at Visit Maldives has worked tirelessly to warrant that Maldives remains on top of the most preferred tourist destinations in the world. Gradually, our efforts seem to bear fruit: we have received 16 awards and accolades this year, including the World’s Leading Destination award by World Travel Awards 2020, and we have also reached the 500,000th tourist arrival milestone for the year", stated Managing Director of Visit Maldives Thoyyib Mohamed.
Visit Maldives revealed that a total of 343 major tourism promotion activities are planned for 2021, including both offline and online campaigns.
The main objective for the upcoming year is increasing tourist arrival figures to pre-pandemic levels, reorienting the perception of Maldives solely as a luxury and honeymoon destination, and capitalizing on the international recognition received in 2020.
Additionally, Visit Maldives also noted that particular importance would be placed on developing and promoting local tourism, as well as Maldivian culture and heritage.
Maldives reopened its borders to international passengers on July 15, after nearly four months since the state halted issuing on-arrival visas on March 27. Guesthouses were permitted to resume operations and kick start local tourism on October 15.
On December 12, Maldives recorded the arrival of the 100,000th tourist following the removal of travel restrictions. Five days after the milestone was reached, the government welcomed 500,000th tourist for the year 2020.
Although Maldives has noted a significant reduction in tourist arrivals compared to pre-COVID figures, there has been a gradual increase with the establishment of travel bubbles between Maldives and other countries, as well as greater connectivity in terms of flight operations.
In December, thus far, Maldives has recorded 69,000 incoming tourists, marking the highest number of arrivals within a month for this year. Statistics for November indicate nearly half the number with 35,000 arrivals in total.
The government aims to attract a total of 1.2 million tourists to Maldives in 2021.
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