Visit Maldives conducted a joint webinar with Emirates airline for the Norwegian market on 11th March 2021. This was the first activity carried out this year for the Nordic region in line with the strategy for ambient brand advertising to boost the destination presence in this market.
A total of 30 participants joined the webinar including travel agents, tour operators and other industry professionals from Norway. Representatives from Emirates began the webinar by sharing details of flight schedules to the Maldives highlighting that there will be 3 weekly flights from Oslo to Male’ with a stopover in Dubai along with 4 daily flights between Dubai and Male’ through other routes.
The Managing Director of Visit Maldives, Mr. Thoyyib Mohamed addressed participants of the webinar. He stated plans to carry out offline and online activities in the Nordic market to promote destination visibility and detailed vaccination efforts in the country.
“We aim to become one of the first countries with a 100% vaccinated tourism sector and population. The staff from the tourism industry are especially given priority to ensure their safety as well as those visiting the Maldives.”
Furthermore, Visit Maldives provided the latest updates of the country, including the Covid-19 situation, entry requirements and departure and arrival procedures. It was highlighted that the safety measures in place granted the country ‘Safe Travels Stamp’ in 2020 from the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) The presentation also focused on the unique geography of the country that has enabled natural social distancing and the one-island-one-resort concept that provides visitors plenty of isolation and privacy, and showcased experiences unique to the destination, such as underwater spas and restaurants.
Details on local initiatives were also shared in the webinar. These include the Maldives Border Miles program, by Maldives Immigration as the world’s first tier-based travel loyalty programme, and Allied Inbound, travel insurance package launched by Allied Insurance Company in association with the Ministry of Tourism. The webinar was concluded with a Q&A session where participants voiced various queries. These included questions regarding requirements for PCR testing, entry requirements for vaccinated tourists of all ages, and vaccination status of resort staff. This initiative serves to increase the destination knowledge of attendees which, along with the increased connectivity, will drive more tourists from the market to Maldives.
There were 1,624 arrivals from the Norwegian market in 2020 and 43 arrivals in January of 2021. Though there is a decrease due to the covid-19 pandemic, the market holds great potential as Norwegians have high spending power and love to travel frequently. In order to boost these figures, a PR agency was hired this month for the Nordic region.
In key markets, there are several activities being conducted including a global campaign with Expedia and a campaign with Skyscanner in Russia, Italy and UK. Other marketing activities to be carried out for the year include roadshows, digital and print advertisements as well as joint campaigns with other airlines. With the increasing flight connectivities, the arrivals in 2021 is projected to be favorable, with the total figure till date exceeding 200,000.
