Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) on Monday welcomed a team of journalists from the Middle East, as part of a joint tourism promotion campaign with Etihad Airways.

The theme for this trip is “Luxury” where the team will be exposed to several luxury experiences available in the Maldives.

The Middle East media team — the fourth this year in the official tourism promotion body’s series of familiarisation trips — consists of a representative from The Insider Middle East and four well-known lifestyle bloggers from the United Arab Emirates.

During their five-day visit to the Maldives, they will be staying at Emerald Maldives Resort & Spa, The Westin Maldives Miriandhoo Resort and Grand Park Kodhipparu Maldives.

The team will indulge in different spa and yoga experiences available at these properties. They will also be experiencing a variety of luxurious activities that are unique to these resorts.

The group will get to share their experiences in the Maldives with their audiences via in-depth articles and rich multimedia content published on their respective publications and social media platforms.

“MMPRC hopes to increase the number of tourist arrivals from Middle East through such familiarisation trips and other various marketing activities focused to this region,” a statement issued by MMPRC read.

In 2019, tourist arrivals to the Maldives from Middle East were recorded at 60,003 — a 15.1 per cent increase over 2018. In January, arrivals from Middle Eastern countries saw an increase of 73.7 per cent compared to January 2019.