With the beginning of a new decade, the Maldives on Wednesday warmly welcomed the first visitor of 2020,

The lucky winner, Mohamed Alamer from Bahrain, arrived in Maldives for a vacation with his wife Sara Aljasim via Gulf Air GF144.

At a ceremony held at the main Velana International Airport, officials from the official tourism promotion body Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC), together with the state-owned airport operator Maldives Airports Company Limited (MACL), Maldives Immigration, Furaveri Maldives resort, Gulf Air and Ooredoo Maldives welcomed the lucky couple.

The stamping of the first visitor’s passport by the Maldives Immigration commenced the event where MMPRC staff escorted Alamer to the VIP lounge. Tourism minister Ali Waheed and MMPRC Managing Director Thoyyib Mohamed then welcomed Alamer.

MMPRC presented Alamer with a congratulatory certificate and special gifts, whilst Furaveri Maldives resort offered a complimentary holiday package, which was presented by the minister. He also received return flight tickets to Maldives from Gulf Air, along with a gift package from Ooredoo Maldives.

Speaking at the event, MMPRC Managing Director Thoyyib Mohamed reflected on the marketing activities conducted during the previous year and highlighted the efforts planned for this year.

“We are satisfied with the marketing activities we did last year. I expect to see the outcome of those activities in the coming days. We are targeting to achieve more in 2020. Maldives Year in Russia would be one of the many new initiatives which will be launched this year as part of the diversified marketing activities for 2020,” Thoyyib said.

As the first tourist of the year was from Bahrain, Thoyyib stressed the importance of this market for Maldives tourism.

“The Middle east and GCC region are important markets for us with its high yield, easy accessibility and potential for growth. A lot of activities were carried out for the market last year and we plan to do more this year. We are having a campaign with Vogue Arabia this January to kick off the 2020 campaign for this market,” he said.

The Maldives achieved the milestone arrival of 1.5 million tourists in November — 38 days ahead of schedule — with the total arrivals reaching 1.67 million by the end of year.

In 2019, MMPRC carried out more than 130 events, including fairs, roadshows, media fam trips and joint campaigns, to facilitate in achieving this target.