Maldives Marketing & Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC / Visit Maldives) has taken part in the TTF Travel & Tourism Fair and is gearing up to conduct a Maldives Roadshow in India. TTF is held from 1st-3rd July 2022 in Kolkata with 13 industry partners, and the Maldives Roadshow will take place in Bangalore, Chennai, and Trivandrum on the 5th, 7th, and 8th of July respectively.
Maldives exhibited as the Partner Country for the exhibition. Visit Maldives, along with Riu Maldives and Sun Siyam Iruveli will be giving a special Destination Presentation to the visitor audience during this event, detailing the incredible holiday experiences available to visitors from the World’s Leading Destination.
TTF Travel & Tourism Fair in Kolkata is India’s leading exhibition for the travel and tourism industry. It provides an annual opportunity for organisations from India and abroad to showcase their products and services. Visitors can gather information and make national and international travel plans. TTF presents an unparalleled marketing opportunity for exhibitors to connect directly with the largest gathering of prospective travellers and members of the travel industry. The visitor profile for TTF includes tour operators, travel agents, airlines, hoteliers and other travel and trade professionals and stakeholders.
After concluding TTF Kolkata, Visit Maldives will hold a roadshow in three cities of India under the theme ‘Connect with Maldives, Your Ultimate Destination Maldives Roadshow in India’ together with potential operators and agents from India. The roadshow will be held on 5th July in Bangalore, 7th July in Chennai and 8th July in Trivandrum, alongside 16 industry partners. During the roadshow, Visit Maldives and industry partners will showcase a destination presentation highlighting the products, experiences, and latest travel guidelines on the Maldives. The presentation will be followed by a productive night of networking and building new business relations, and a special raffle will be conducted awarding a free holiday in the Maldives.
During these events, Visit Maldives aims to maintain our destination presence and promote the Maldives as the world’s leading destination in the Indian market alongside industry partners. Participation in this event also comes as part of MMPRC’s marketing strategy for the Indian market, which is based on conducting ambient campaigns to strengthen Maldives’ brand in all major cities, identify channels to access the luxury market segment, promote affordable holiday options and focus on specific advertising for honeymooners and family holidays, combined with guest house stays.
India was the largest market in 2021 with over 278,740 travellers and a market share of 22.6%, and is the largest source market for the Maldives this year as well, thus far. As of 8th June 2022, the Maldives has welcomed 104,800 tourists to the country from India, ranking as the top source market to the country and contributing 14.3% of the total market share for this period. MMPRC has planned several activities targeting the Indian market in the effort to maintain destination visibility. This includes ongoing joint-marketing campaigns with prominent partners such as Thomas Cook, Pickyourtrail, and Vistara Inflight Magazine, participation in major fairs such SATTE and OTM, and hosting familiarisation trips.
As the company responsible for marketing the Maldives as a destination abroad, MMPRC carried out 260 different marketing activities in 22 global markets last year, including fairs, roadshows, familiarisation 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 travellers 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.