The Maldives Welcomes Its 1 Millionth Tourist of the Year
Monday 17th of July 2023
On Sunday, the 1 millionth tourist for the Maldives was received warmly at Velana International Airport (VIA). This year’s 1 millionth tourist arrival figure was reached one month ahead of last year (12 August 2022), augmenting the destination’s trajectory to achieve the national arrival target of 1.8 million tourists by the end of 2023.
The 1 millionth tourist for this year happened to be a British national, Mr. Anton Pavlov who arrived with his family on British Airways flight BA061 during the morning hours of yesterday. The family was received and escorted to the event area via a cultural performance, where they were welcomed by senior officials from the Ministry of Tourism and other tourism stakeholders. Special gift packs were also bestowed upon the guest of honour from MoT, MMPRC, MACL, Maldives Immigration, and the tourism industry to commemorate the momentous occasion.
MMPRC’s marketing efforts in the first two quarters of this year played an instrumental role in securing this accomplishment. The corporation allied to drive exposure and maintain destination presence across various key markets with a 360-degree marketing approach. Moreover, the reinstating of flights between Maldives and China on January 18th served as a prominent catalyst to boost arrival numbers, especially since China remains one of the top-performing markets for the Maldives since January 2023.
Prior to the pandemic, the Chinese market consistently persisted to top the arrival charts to the Maldives and is currently positioned in the 4th position in 2023. The market has also experienced incredible growth with a staggering 1,659.5% increment compared to the same period last year. Among other innovative marketing events conducted by MMPPRC for 2023, the Visit Maldives Storytellers’ Conference is a definite success that is chartered to help increase arrival numbers in the coming months.
The exceptional event was executed during the low season to boost arrivals and concurrently provided coverage of different regions of the Maldives, which generated a huge global presence with a surprising 89,517,434 reach on the Visit Maldives social media platforms alone. With the extensive coverage received during the sideline activities, MMPRC predicts that arrivals are set to increase further, with bookings more dispersed throughout the Maldives.
MMPRC’s future marketing strategies are also poised to achieve the annual arrival target of 1.8 million tourists for 2023. To carry through with this mission, the corporation is resolute in promoting the Maldives via various destination marketing activities such as pursuing fruitful collaborations with global stakeholders like airlines, TOs, and TAs. Most top source markets for the Maldives have already surpassed their pre-pandemic arrival, which proves to be a positive inclination for the destination.