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Maldives seeks joint tourism promotion with international airlines

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Maldivian officials have held extensive discussions with international airlines to jointly promote the Maldives’ tourism industry abroad.

The discussions were held at the Arabian Travel Market in Dubai, which concluded Thursday. State tourism promotion company Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation’s (MMPRC) Acting Managing Director Haris Mohamed led the Maldives delegation in the discussions with airlines including Emirates, FlyDubai, Alitalia and Turkish Airlines.

Emirates currently operates three daily flights to the Maldives, while FlyDubai and Turkish Airlines fly five times a week to the Indian Ocean island nation. Alitalia is set to begin three times a week service to the Maldives in October.

In addition to the discussions with airlines, Maldives was represented at ATM by officials of MMPRC along with more than 125 representatives from 57 companies involved in the tourism industry. Some of the exhibitors included premier hotel and resort operators such as AAA Hotels and Resorts, Kandima Maldives, Banyan Tree Vabbinfaru, Hulhule Island Hotel, Villa Hotels, Maalifushi by COMO, Finolhu Baa Atoll Maldives, Amilla Fushi, The St. Regis Maldives Vommuli Resort, Bandos Maldives, Anantara Maldives Resorts and Naladhu Maldives, Kanuhura Maldives, Furaveri Island Resort, Adaaran resorts, Crown and Champa Resorts, Coco Bodu Hithi, JA Manafaru, Cheval Blanc Randheli, Summer Island Maldives, Ayada Maldives and Sun Siyam Resorts. Travel agents and tour operators that represented the Maldives were Crown Tours, Pearl Travel Service, Lets Go Maldives, Inner Maldives Holidays, Moodhu Holidays, Travel Connection Maldives and Capital Travel & Tours.

Maldives was showcased at a 200-square metre stand with a new design concept that showed the natural beauty of the destination through colourful images. During the four-day exhibition, special activities were carried out at the stand to attract more visitors, including social media campaigns to increase the online presence of the Maldives’ tourism industry. Visitors also had the opportunity to take pictures at the stand and upload them to social media with the hashtags, #visitmaldives #ATMDubai to win instant gifts.

Founded in 1994, ATM is now recognised as the largest travel trade show in Middle East, showcasing over 2,800 products and destinations from around the world to over 26,000 buyers and visitors every year. Apart from usual business meetings, this year’s fair will see special events, including speed networking sessions for industry stakeholders and travel media.

Middle East is one of the major emerging source markets for the Maldives tourism industry. Official figures show that 51,330 tourists visited the Maldives from Middle Eastern countries last year, a 22.3 percent increase over the 41,976 the year before.

That growth is set to continue this year as well, as Middle Eastern travellers that chose to travel to the Maldives for their holidays increased by 3.9 percent in the first two months of the year.

Middle East is also the hub from which major airlines such as Emirates, Etihad Airways, Qatar Airways and Fly Dubai have scheduled direct flights to the Maldives’ main Velana International Airport. Recent addition to flights from the Middle East is Saudi Arabia’s flagship carrier Saudi Airlines.

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Feydhoo Hall opens at dusitD2 Feydhoo Maldives as new event space

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Dusit International, one of Thailand’s leading hotel and property development companies, has announced the opening of Feydhoo Hall, a landmark event venue at dusitD2 Feydhoo Maldives, redefining the possibilities for meetings, celebrations, and destination events in the Maldives.

Designed to bring scale, flexibility, and creativity to island gatherings, Feydhoo Hall represents a bold step forward in positioning the Maldives as a dynamic destination for conferences, weddings, and large-scale social occasions.

Feydhoo Hall offers a versatile event complex designed to accommodate a wide range of gatherings, from corporate meetings and conferences to weddings and social celebrations.

At its core is the 390 sqm Main Hall, capable of hosting:

  • Up to 300 guests in theatre-style setup
  • Up to 240 guests for dining and banquet-style events
  • Up to 200 guests for cocktail-style receptions
  • Up to 144 guests in cluster-round configuration

Enhancing the flexibility of the venue are additional dedicated spaces, including:

  • A 110 sqm Veranda Terrace, ideal for welcome receptions, breakout sessions, and pre-event gatherings, accommodating up to 100 guests for cocktail-style events.
  • A spacious 1,000 sqm Lawn Space, perfect for large-scale outdoor celebrations, destination weddings, and open-air events, accommodating up to 400 guests for cocktail receptions and up to 350 guests for dining setups.
  • The 55 sqm Ekugai Meeting Room, designed for smaller meetings and executive sessions, accommodating up to 30 guests in theatre or dining setup and 24 guests in cluster-round format.

Together, these integrated spaces create a seamless indoor-outdoor event experience, allowing planners to design dynamic and personalised event journeys.

True to the dusitD2 brand’s lifestyle-driven philosophy, Feydhoo Hall introduces a fresh approach to meetings and events — where productivity meets creativity in an inspiring island setting.

The venue offers flexible meeting formats designed to suit different event needs, including:

  • Half-Day Meeting Package (4 hours) — ideal for focused sessions, executive meetings, and creative workshops.
  • Full-Day Meeting Package (8 hours) — designed for immersive conferences, extended workshops, and large-scale corporate gatherings.

These thoughtfully structured packages provide planners with the flexibility to create impactful and seamless experiences, whether hosting intimate strategy sessions or dynamic full-day events.

Located just seven minutes by speedboat from Velana International Airport, dusitD2 Feydhoo Maldives combines accessibility with vibrant lifestyle energy, offering event planners and guests a rare balance between convenience and tropical escape.

With the introduction of Feydhoo Hall, the resort strengthens its position as a versatile destination — not only for leisure travellers but also for international conferences, creative retreats, luxury weddings, and large-scale social celebrations seeking something refreshingly different in the Maldives.

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BBM expands retail presence with new Hulhumalé outlet

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Bestbuy Maldives (BBM) opened a new wholesale store in Hulhumalé Phase 2 on Monday.

The outlet is located on the ground floor of Lot 20286, Nirolhu Magu, and is intended to improve access to BBM’s imported goods for residents of Hulhumalé Phase 2 and for businesses operating in the area.

According to the company, the opening forms part of its plan to expand services closer to customers in line with population growth in Hulhumalé.

With the opening of the new store, BBM’s full range of imported and distributed products will be available at the Hulhumalé Phase 2 location. These include consumer goods from international brands such as Lifebuoy, Vaseline and Unilever.

The store will also stock wholesale food products from brands including Daily, Cavin’s and Redman.

BBM has supplied goods to resorts, hotels and retail outlets across the Maldives for several years.

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Ataraxis Grand & Spa hosts integrated work-and-dive corporate retreat in Fuvahmulah

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Ataraxis Grand & Spa recently hosted a week-long, closed corporate offsite in Fuvahmulah for a US-based artificial intelligence company, highlighting the island’s growing suitability for integrated work-and-experience retreats. The retreat brought a group of 36 international professionals to the property, which was reserved exclusively for the programme.

Designed as a private company offsite, the stay combined structured daily work sessions with guided diving and beginner-friendly surf experiences, creating a balanced format that blended focused collaboration with physical reset.

A notable component of the programme was dive training and certification. During the retreat, 17 participants completed their Open Water certification, while a further six undertook the Advanced Open Water course, with training and dives scheduled alongside work sessions as part of the integrated itinerary.

Throughout the week, participants worked on-site using dedicated shared spaces supported by reliable high-speed internet, allowing meetings, informal collaboration and scheduled activities to take place within a single, uninterrupted environment. This setup enabled teams to move seamlessly between work periods and organised ocean activities without leaving the property.

Fuvahmulah’s natural and operational advantages formed a key part of the retreat’s appeal. As one of the Maldives’ largest inhabited islands, it offers immediate access to pelagic dive sites, internationally recognised shark diving and surf breaks suitable for instruction, alongside the infrastructure required to support extended group stays.

The offsite reflects a growing preference among technology and knowledge-sector teams for small-scale retreats that prioritise concentrated work environments and team cohesion over traditional conference formats. Such programmes typically involve longer stays and higher per-capita spend, aligning with sustainable, quality-driven tourism models.

The retreat also demonstrates how locally operated properties such as Ataraxis Grand & Spa are supporting this shift by delivering unified environments where accommodation, workspaces, connectivity and curated experiences operate as a single programme rather than separate services.

As organisations continue to explore alternative formats for strategy sessions, team resets and creative offsites, Ataraxis Grand & Spa’s experience positions Fuvahmulah as an increasingly viable destination for integrated corporate retreats.

Ataraxis Grand & Spa offers work-and-dive retreat programmes in Fuvahmulah that combine accommodation, dedicated workspaces, high-speed connectivity and organised diving and surfing.

Further information on retreat formats and dive-inclusive stays is available via the Ataraxis Grand & Spa website.

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