MMPRC Launches Social Media Marketing Campaign For The Chinese Market

Tuesday 9th of May 2023

Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) has kicked off a social media marketing campaign for the Chinese market on Weibo and WeChat. Conducted from March to May 2023, this campaign is regarded as an important strategy to boost arrival numbers from the region, particularly given the significance of social media platforms to the Chinese market.

MMPRC’s marketing campaign will inspire Chinese travellers to choose the Maldives as their preferred destination for leisure travel following the reopening of international borders. Having carried out 17 similar campaigns in China during the lockdown phase to great success, MMPRC aims to maintain destination visibility and brand presence within the Chinese market through this campaign.

Under this campaign it will feature 45 original posts and 12 authentic articles on the Visit Maldives accounts for Weibo and WeChat. Each post and article will contribute to the promotion of products, experiences and segments available in the Maldives. As part of the campaign, MMPRC will also be hosting a free holiday giveaway to the Maldives to selected lucky winners. The entire campaign is estimated to reach approximately 1.4 million users.

WeChat and Weibo are the largest and second-largest social media platforms worldwide, boasting 1.17 billion monthly active users and 530 million active users respectively. Both platforms are known to dominate the social media landscape in China and are deemed the go-to place for the Chinese market. The inaugural flight from China to the Maldives post-pandemic became a trending topic on Weibo, therefore this campaign will allow MMPRC to leverage the trend of travelling to the Maldives.

Prior to the pandemic, the Chinese market continuously topped the arrival charts to the Maldives with 284,029 arrivals recorded in 2019 alone. With the closing of Chinese borders during the pandemic, arrival figures plummeted drastically and have remained low for the past three years. On 18th January 2023, the first direct flight from China to the Maldives arrived after a three-year hiatus, welcoming back the promising market to the destination. Since then, China has swiftly risen to be the 6th top source market with 30,353 arrivals recorded as of 29th April 2023. 

Many other marketing activities are in the pipeline for this market throughout the year, including E-learning campaigns, outdoor campaigns, joint-promotion campaigns, familiarization trips, social media campaigns and participation in fairs such as ITB China.