Visit Maldives, the High Commission of Maldives in Singapore and the Maldivian foreign ministry in collaboration with the Association of Travel Agents Singapore (NATAS) has conducted a destination webinar.

The event, held on on June 30, also saw the participation of Maldives Association of Tourism Industry (MATI), Guesthouse Association of Maldives (GAM), Association of Travel Agents (ATA), and the National Boating Association Maldives (NBAM).

The objective of the webinar is to connect with the Singapore travel trade community to share the latest information on Maldives, to create destination awareness, and highlight the safety provided by the natural socially-distanced geography and stringent safety measures in place.

During the webinar, Thoyyib Mohamed, the Managing director of Visit Maldives, addressed the importance of the Singapore market to Maldives and highlighted the current marketing strategies to promote the destination.

“With the blessings of a natural socially-distanced scattered geography and overwhelmingly breathtaking beauty, the Maldives is unlike any other tourist destination in the world,” he said.

“The scattered alluring islands and the uniquely-Maldivian ‘one-island-one-resort- concept transforms Maldives into one of the safest destinations to travel to right now.”

Visit Maldives presented a destination video showcasing the alluring scenery of the Maldives, the four tourism products (resorts, guesthouse, liveaboards, and hotels) and the unique experiences offered in Maldives.

In addition, the different segments of Maldives tourism and marketing efforts were highlighted.

The one-hour interactive session shared the latest information on the current travel protocols to the Singapore travel trade members.

The webinar commenced with a welcome speech by Eman Hassan, Deputy High Commissioner of the Maldives, followed by introductory remarks by Ibrahim Shaheeb, High Commissioner of Maldives.

Afterwards, an overview of NATAS was provided by Steven Lee, President of NATAS, followed by remarks from Dr Naushad Mohamed, the deputy tourism minister. The tourism ministry detailed future plans and opportunities for the travel trade community.

The webinar connected with over 30 travel trade members in the Singapore market and provided the chance to identify future opportunities and collaborations with NATAS.

The South East Asia market is one of the most important markets to the Maldives with immense potential for growth.

Visit Maldives aims to navigate through the Covid-19 crisis and promote Maldives by strengthening connections with destinations in the SEA market. Therefore, the webinar with NATAS plays a crucial role in addressing urgent inquiries and strengthening Maldives’ brand presence in the Singapore market.

In 2019, over 14,990 travellers arrived from the Singapore market ranking Singapore as the 19th top source market for Maldivian tourism. The Singaporean border is currently closed for international leisure travel.

However, Visit Maldives aims to keep the destination presence across the market. Visit Maldives concluded Travel Meet Asia- MICE and Corporate and IMM Asia Virtual in the month of June 2021.

Maldives reopened its borders for tourists of all nationalities on July 15, 2020, with rigorous procedures in place to ensure the safety of tourists and tourism workers. Tourists are required to fill an online health declaration form within 24 hours prior to their departure, as well as have a negative PCR test result, conducted 96 hours prior to their departure

The administration of the Covid-19 vaccine was initiated on February 1, with the government of Maldives set to provide free Covid-19 vaccines to all citizens and residents of the country in the upcoming months.

Visit Maldives together with the tourism ministry launched the “I’m Vaccinated” campaign in order to share a positive message regarding the vaccination of staff working in the tourism sector as well as promoting the initiatives undertaken to ensure the Maldives remains one of the safest destinations in the world for travellers.

The ultimate target is to make Maldives the destination with the first fully vaccinated tourism sector in the world.