Leading local telecom operator Dhiraagu has signed up as the title sponsor of the upcoming Guesthouses Maldives Conference 2017.

In a statement, organiser Maldives Getaways said a partnership agreement was signed with Dhiraagu on Sunday. The event will now be officially called Dhiraagu Guesthouses Maldives Conference 2017, it added.

Commenting on the sponsorship, Dhiraagu’s Chief Marketing Officer Isabelle Hajri said, “We are committed to supporting the guesthouse industry of Maldives. Therefore, we are delighted to announce our title sponsorship of the 2nd guesthouses conference that is due to be held on the 23rd of September which brings together all of the industry’s stakeholders.”

Set to be held in capital Male on September 23, the second edition of Guesthouses Maldives Conference will bring together representatives from 200 guesthouses across the Maldives and more than 50 local and international travel agents that are solely focused on the budget travel market. Representatives of leading online travel agents such as Expedia and Booking.com will also participate in the conference.

Maldives, known world over for its upmarket tourism industry, has resorts in the hundreds spread across the archipelago. The industry has in recent years expanded to introduce more affordable segments, including guesthouses and liveaboards. Some 330 guesthouses have started operations over the past five years as the number of travellers that choose to stay in guesthouses rise.

The annual Guesthouses Maldives Conference is aimed at bringing together owners and key stakeholders from the guesthouses and travel industry to discuss and share ideas on the challenges as well as the opportunities in the industry. Through the conference, the organisers target to find ways to bring in 500,000 tourists to guesthouses across the Maldives by the year 2020.

The first edition of the conference, which was held in Male in September 2016, was attended by over 160 guesthouse operators, local and international travel agents, tour operators, online travel agents (OTAs), airlines, government agencies and business leaders.