Visit Maldives has participated in the Luxury Travel Advisors ULTRA Summit 2021 to maintain the destination presence and promote the Maldives as a unique luxury travel destination in the United States market.

This exclusive B2B event was held from July 25-27 in Texas.

As 2020 forced many obstacles onto the luxury travel industry, the main objective of this year’s summit was to maintain the destination brand on the travel radar as a safe haven for travellers in luxury markets.

It was the first physical fair that Visit Maldives had taken part in this year targeting the US market.

Luxury Travel Advisor’s ULTRA Summit is one of the most successful events for the luxury travel segment in the US. This B2B event is for companies that offer luxury products, who wish to establish new contacts and strengthen old ties in the USA markets.

The event invites only pre-qualified, leading luxury travel agency owners and managers in the US who are eager to meet one-on-one with the crème de la crème of luxury travel suppliers.

In addition to the inter-market exposure during the event, Maldives was also promoted on the website banner, with a custom e-blast sent out to all attendees.

“The fair is in line with the Visit Maldives’ strategies for the US market, to increase the market exposure further, by participating in major fairs to expand B2B contact with tour agents and to extend connections with the diving market in the US region,” a statement issued by Visit Maldives read.

Since reopening of borders in 2020, Maldives has welcomed 27,759 tourists from the US, notably ranking it among the top 10 markets to the Maldives.

For this year, Maldives has scheduled familiarisation trips, joint marketing campaigns with stakeholders, and various virtual events to increase the popularity of the small island nation within the US market, including the participation in ILTM North America in September and the DEMA show in November.

The Maldives has welcomed a total of 690,252 travellers as of July 3 this year, 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 before their departure, as well as have a negative PCR test result, conducted 96 hours before 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.

As of July 3, 317,316 people in the Maldives have received the first dose of the vaccine with 192,321 receiving the second dose.

Under the campaign, “I’m Vaccinated” launched by Visit Maldives together with the tourism ministry, 90 per cent of the tourism sector has received the first dose and 70 per cent have been fully vaccinated.

The “I’m Vaccinated” campaign was launched 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 the Maldives the first destination with the 100 per cent vaccinated tourism sector in the world.