WTM London: Maldives seeks to boost meetings and incentives travel

Maldivian suppliers in the UK for WTM London will be meeting with UK buyers from the Mice market (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) this week.

The tourist board has also released a new video showcasing locations where meetings and group gatherings can take place.

“We’re focusing on telling people that size doesn’t matter,” said Thoyyib Mohamed, CEO of Visit Maldives.

“The Maldives has many amazing ‘outside-the-box’ locations and experiences that can offer something very different for meetings and for smaller groups, like ‘boardroom on the beach’ – no suit, no tie, no shoes,” he told TTG@WTM.

Last week, the destination surpassed one million international arrivals in the year to date, compared to a total of 1.7 million pre-pandemic in 2019.

“Our target for this year was to get back up to one million, so to have achieved that two months in advance, we’re very happy,” said Mohamed.

He said the Maldives’ “one island, one resort” concept, and the fact 98% of staff working in hospitality have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19, will continue to be very reassuring for travellers in 2022.

“Everyone is looking for a safe haven, isolated places where they feel safe, and the fact that our resorts are geographically isolated is a real advantage,” he explained.

Visit Maldives is now being represented in the UK market by Aviareps, and Mohamed said media and trade familiarisation trips would be arranged next year.

“Even when the Maldives was on the UK’s red list, we worked very hard to stay in the hearts and minds of travellers and the trade; we never stopped our work,” he added.