Maldives has once again won the prestigious Dream Dive Destination award at the Dive and Travel Awards, hosted by the Marine Diving Fair.

This is the 12th consecutive year that the Maldives has won this award.

An annual scuba diving and beach resorts fair which takes place in Tokyo, Japan, the Marine Diving Fair serves as a platform that caters to a large number of scuba divers and marine enthusiasts.

“It has been noted that the dive segment of Maldives attracts the most visitors from Japan,” Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC), the country’s official tourism promotion body, said, in a statement.

“Thereby, Marine Diving Fair opens a great opportunity for reaching travellers focusing in the dive segment. The Marine Diving Fair has been a great platform to strengthen the market presence of Maldives in Japan and Southeast Asia region.”

MMPRC has been conducting several marketing activities in Japan as well as other global markets, in a bid to capitalise on online and digital advertising opportunities.

Some of the main activities recently conducted include the ‘Visitmaldives Later’ campaign on social media platforms, and ‘Maldives: The Sun Will Shine Again’ Facebook live event.

A webinar series will also be launched soon place under the recently-launched ‘Rediscover Maldives’ campaign, to share information with global travel agents and tour operators about the new norms in travelling to the Maldives and to showcase the experiences that await tourists in paradise. The series will focus on the different markets including Japan, Southeast Asia region, and other major source markets.

The Japanese market is ranked 10th among the source markets to Maldives tourism. In the first two months of the year, 4,052 Japanese tourists visited the Maldives which is a growth of 2.4 per cent compared to the previous year.

In 2019, arrivals from Japan saw year-over-year growth of 4.6 per cent to reach 44,251.

With the continued positive growth in arrivals from the market, Maldives is hopeful and ready to welcome tourists back, and to ensure that it’s a safe haven for all.

Photo: A file photo shows the Maldivian delegation attending the Marine Diving Fair 2019. FILE PHOTO/ MMPRC