Maldives seeks to boost tourist arrivals from key markets to 1 million

The Maldivian administration aims to boost annual tourist arrivals from each top source market to one million within five years, according to Ibrahim Faisal, the country’s tourism minister.

He made the remark at a press briefing on Thursday morning regarding the recent ‘Welcome India’ roadshow series, which targeted travelers from three of India’s biggest cities.

Faisal said that he hopes to see India back as one of the top three source markets for tourist arrivals by the end of this year.

Faisal said that there had been “certain reasons” for the decline in arrivals from India. He said that President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu’s foreign policy is to foster close ties with all countries.

The India market had been the top source market for tourist arrivals in the beginning of the year – a position it had maintained throughout the pandemic. However, the market has now slipped to sixth rank, with 73,258 arrivals as of Wednesday.

The dwindling numbers prompted the Maldives to increase promotional activities targeting Indian travelers.

On Thursday, Faisal said the Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) is engaged in talks with a number of Indian celebrities for familiarization trips.

He said that the influencers have tens of millions of followers on social media, and will help boost Maldives’ exposure.

Faisal also noted Indian External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar’s upcoming visit to Maldives.

“Many of these things also depend on bilateral relations with countries like India and China. Therefore, President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu’s administration fosters close relations with the governments of China and India. My goal is, if we manage to do enough work on this, to boost arrivals from each of these markets to one million by the end of this five-year term,” he said.

Faisal said that it is not an impossible task, if tourism industry stakeholders work towards achieving the goal.

He also expressed confidence in boosting arrivals from India.

The ‘Welcome India’ roadshows were held in New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore.

Building on the momentum generated by the roadshows, MMPRC plans to continue to implement strategic initiatives to increase arrivals from the Indian market, and reinstate it as one of the top three source markets for visitors to the country.

Upcoming promotional activities targeting the Indian market includes the Globalspa campaign, joint marketing partnerships with Cleartrip and Pickyourtrail, and familiarization trips – which MMPRC expects to further reinforce the Maldives’ position as the top-of-mind destination for Indian travelers.

Maldives, which won the award for the WTA World's Leading Destination for the fourth consecutive year in 2023, is eying a record 2 million tourist arrivals this year. It is already halfway there, with over 1.2 million arrivals.