Inaugural World Travel Writers’ Conference held in the Maldives officially came to a close Monday evening, with the launching of its second edition set for next year.

At the gala night held at Adaaran Select Hudhuranfushi resort, Public Service Media (PSM) Managing Director Ibrahim Khaleel launched the World Travel Writers’ Conference 2018, scheduled for April 2018.

Speaking at the ceremony, Director of Marketing and E-commerce at PSM Ibrahim Nasreen said the second edition would be bigger and better, with more sponsors and participants. It would go beyond the Maldives in an attempt to expand the event, he added.

The gala night brought together the participants as well as partners and sponsors for a evening filled with good food and entertainment.

The night began with some participants of the conference speaking about their experience during the conference. Stuart Forster, Gina Samarotto and Elizabeth Carlson spoke about their respective field of experience and how it could be use to promote the Maldives. They also thanked Maldives TV for organising such an event.

During the gala night, awards of recognition were conferred by PSM to everyone who supported in making the first ever World Travel Writers’ Conference by Maldives TV a success.

Nineteen participants, including eminent travel writers, bloggers, vloggers, photographers and social media influencers, from 10 different nationalities across the globe along with local writers and professionals from the Maldives tourism industry attended the conference, which included keynote speeches and panel discussions.

Keynote speakers focused on themes, including progressive economy and sustainable tourism, sharing experiences and the art of storytelling, keeping a memory to a moment otherwise gone, and bringing the travel destination story to life through immersive technology.

Expert groups expressed their views and experiences during the panel discussions on topics such as turning factual travel stories into crafted narratives, storytelling through digital media, and whether or not luxury destinations are failing in their storytelling.