Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) has participated in a webinar organised by Foltour, a travel agency based in the North of Italy (Piedmont region).

During the webinar held on October 13, up-to-date information about the destination, including unique experiences, accommodation options, must-do activities and travel guidelines were given to the 15 travel agencies and their clients that participated in the webinar.

“The major objective of this online session was to present the Maldives as a safe haven and a dream destination which looks forward to welcoming the Italian travellers to Maldives,” MMPRC said, in a statement.

Maldives was also promoted through the travel agency’s official channels on Facebook and YouTube.

Before the Maldives closed its borders in March in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, Italy was ranked as the number one market in terms of tourist arrivals. By the end of March, 52,848 tourists arrived in the Maldives from Italy — an increase of 11.7 per cent over the same period last year.

Aside from exhibiting at BIT earlier this year, MMPRC has conducted several activities targeting the Italian market such as outdoor advertising on airport screens and taxis, print advertisements, and webinars with major Italian stakeholders such as Easy Market, Sporting Vacanze and Travel Network.

The Maldives was also represented at TTG Travel Experience in Rimini, Italy this month – the very first fair in which the destination exhibited after the reopening of the borders.

Major marketing activities are being conducted in other key markets as well. The activities include a global campaign with CNN, integrated webinar sessions in China, a campaign with FVW in German speaking markets, and a campaign with Travel weekly targeting the UK market.

Many free opportunities are also being utilised to promote the Maldives in an effort to regain the destination presence during the pandemic.

Photo: A file photo from earlier this months shows Maldivian representatives participating in TTG Travel Experience 2020, held in Rimini, Italy. FILE PHOTO/ MMPRC