Visit Maldives commenced a campaign with leading global travel marketplace Skyscanner to promote the Maldivian tourism industry.
The three-month campaign is targeted towards Italy, UK and Russia, the three of which constituted key markets prior to the closure of Maldives' borders on March 27.
The campaign is intended to assure potential travelers that Maldives remains a highly safe tourist destination amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, particularly considering the geographic dispersion of the islands which ensures social distancing.
As part of the campaign, a page dedicated to Visit Maldives will be added on Skyscanner platforms, targeting the three markets in their own languages. Content will showcase various experiences for tourists that differentiate Maldives from other tourist destinations around the world.
Additionally, destination promotion ads will be displayed in various placements throughout Skyscanner’s platforms, such as the homepage and the most prominent positions on flight search results views, in order to maximise outreach. These ads will also display messages in Italian, British English and Russian languages for easy accessibility.
According to Visit Maldives, the campaign with Skyscanner will reach an estimated 50 million people in Italy, UK and Russia markets, thereby increasing brand awareness and visibility.
After the United Kingdom added Maldives to its safe travel list last week, Skyscanner revealed that a 282 percent increase was observed in searches regarding the country, highlighting a strong level of underlying demand.
Visit Maldives has revealed that its destination promotion campaigns were re-strategised to address the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, with marketing activities being shifted to online and digital platforms.
Visit Maldives is currently conducting several marketing activities worldwide to ensure the continued popularity of Maldives as a tourist destination. These activities include global campaigns with CNN, DNATA campaign in Middle East, outdoor campaigns in UK and South Korea, a social media campaign with Marco Polo in Germany, campaigns with Travel Weekly in UK, campaign with WeddingSutra in India, campaign with OTA in France and an online campaign with Travelata, Sletat and Squiz in Russia.
Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) also hosted the Rediscover Maldives Webinar Series, which consisted of four sessions that were targeted towards providing updated information about the destination to travel trade and media across the globe.
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.
Despite the lifting of restrictions, Maldives has noted a significant reduction in tourist arrivals compared to pre-COVID figures. While a total of 382,760 tourists were recorded before borders were closed in March, the latest figures by Maldives Immigration show that only 27,217 tourists arrived in Maldives in the three months following the lifting of travel restrictions.
However, the Minister of Tourism earlier expressed hopes for the industry's recovery, estimating that 100,000 tourists would visit Maldives before the end of 2020. The tourism ministry expects a total of 500,000 arrivals for the year.
Sign In
