Maldives Marketing and Public Relation Corporation (MMPRC / Visit Maldives) join hands with Pickyourtrail to increase the destination momentum in the Indian market. This 3-month campaign will be held from April to July and aims to create more interest towards the Maldives amongst the travel trade and travelers from this market.
Pickyourtrail is India’s one of the most-loved leisure travel brands that is now growing exponentially with its unique DIY platform online, allowing new age travellers to create and customize their holiday. Their on-trip app lets customers access their tickets, documents and all information on local restaurants & tourist spots. Today, Pickyourtrail has crafted over 50,000 vacations in 14 countries and is the best-rated travel company in India.
The purpose of the joint-campaign between MMPRC and Pickyourtrail is to showcase the Maldives as the most preferred and safe holiday destination for Indian travelers across all affluent segments and profiles. This campaign will create a commercially strong brand marketing campaign and stimulate a high level of inquiries and sales while increasing room nights and passenger numbers.
This campaign is aligned with MMPRC’s market strategies for the Indian market. This strategy targets to market the geographic advantage of having scattered islands which allows natural social distancing and market the individual products including resorts, hotels, guesthouses/homestay and liveaboards in the Indian market. The strategy is also based on informing the travel trade and travelers from India about the latest travel guidelines, safety measures in place in our facilities, and unique experiences offered to holidaymakers in the Maldives.
India was one of the top source markets for the Maldives in 2021. The Maldives has welcomed over 289,964 tourists to the country by 2nd March 2022, with India ranking as the third top source market for this period with 26,094 arrivals which is 9.0% market share. MMPRC held 27 marketing activities targeting this market last year, including campaigns with Travel Trade Journal (TTJ), WeddingSutra, T3 Publication, and MakeMytrip. Additionally, campaigns were conducted with Thomas Cook and Amazon India App, as well as familiarization trips, hosting a roadshow, conducting press events and participating in major fairs. Many such activities are planned for this market for this year as well.
The world is currently on the trajectory to adapt to a broader new normal and ease covid measures across all sectors to recover from negative impact caused to economies due to covid restrictions. We are witnessing more countries easing travel measures and opening with a new normal. With regards to the recent development across the world, Maldives has also eased travel restrictions imposed on tourists which enforced presenting of negative PCR tests by all travelers. In this regard, from 4th March 2022, tourists visiting Maldives are no longer required to present a Covid-19 PCR negative result upon arrival if the prescribed doses of vaccine are completed 14 days prior to date of arrival. As of 13th March 2022, the Maldives has also lifted the national public health emergency, imposed in response to the emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic. The ease of travel restrictions and measures would make it easier for tourists to visit the Maldives.
MMPRC carried out 260 different marketing activities in 22 global markets last year, including fairs, roadshows, familiarization trips, marketing campaigns, webinars, and interviews. The greatest testament to the success of these activities came late last year, as the Maldives secured the title of ‘World’s Leading Destination’ (among several other accolades) at the 2021 World Travel Awards, globally recognised as the hallmark of industry excellence. This is the second consecutive year that the Maldives had successfully earned this prestigious title, a shining testimony of the trust placed in the ‘magic of Maldivian hospitality’ by travelers from all over the globe.
This year also celebrates an exceptional year to visit the Maldives – the Golden Jubilee celebration of tourism in the Maldives kicked off earlier last year with plans to conduct new and exciting activities throughout the year. MMPRC has planned over 60 in-person events for the year 2022, including 11 fairs, roadshows and events scheduled for just the first quarter.