Connect with us

Business

MMPRC opens registration for three travel trade fairs

Published

on

Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) has opened registration for three travel trade fairs taking place in January 2019.

Registration is open for the OneWorld Travel Market (OTM), which takes places in the Indian city of Mumbai from January 23-25, and FITUR 2019, which is to be held in Spanish capital of Madrid from January January 23-27. The cooperation is also accepting registration for FESPO 2019, to be held in the Swiss financial capital of Zurich January 31 to February 3.

MMPRC asked those interested in taking part in these fairs to fill in separate co-exhibitor registration forms (OTM, FITUR and FESPO) and send them to its office with the payment before 3pm on December 13.

Registration for each fair costs USD 1,000 for resorts, hotels, and foreign travel agents and tour operators, while safari vessels, guesthouses, local travel agents, dive operators, transfer companies and picnic islands will be charged USD 500. The fee covers two representatives per company, with each additional official being charged USD 212 for participation.

With over 1,000 exhibitors from 50 countries, OTM is the largest and most international travel trade show in India, now also the largest in the Asia-Pacific region on the basis of sellers, buyers, rented area and number of participating countries. More than 15,000 trade visitors and over 800 buyers from across all industry sectors visit this annual exhibition every year.

India has become a major emerging source market for the Maldives’ tourism industry.

Official figures show that 83,019 tourists arrived in Maldives from its closest neighbour last year, a 24 percent increase from the 66,955 Indian travellers that chose the Maldives in 2016.

That growth is expected to continue this year as well, as the number of Indian tourists that visited the Maldives recorded a 1.7 percent increase in the January-October period of this year to reach 64,224 compared to 63,141 in the same period last year.

Now in its 39th year, FITUR is one of the biggest global platforms for leading travel trade professionals for inbound and outbound markets. The first three days of the fair is solely for trade visitors and the last two days are for both trade visitors and public.

Arrivals to the Maldives from the Spanish market grew 10.5 percent in 2017 compared to the previous year. That growth has almost tripled in the past 10 months of this year, with arrivals reaching 26,723 from 21,047 in the January-October period.

Now in its 29th year, the FESPO fair offers its visitors information about adventurous, exciting, relaxing and unique holidays. In 2018, over 600 exhibitors showcased their products and attractive offers to an audience of more than 63,000 visitors.

Majority of Swiss travellers to the Maldives are repeat visitors, and Switzerland has been highlighted as one of the most potential markets for Maldives in terms of visitor arrivals.

Arrivals to the Maldives from the Swiss market increased by 3.1 percent last year, with a total of 32,651 by the end of December 2017. In the past 10 months of this year, the number of Swiss holidaymakers travelling to the Maldives increased by 0.9 percent to reach 26,025 from 25,803 in the same period of last year.

Business

Feydhoo Hall opens at dusitD2 Feydhoo Maldives as new event space

Published

on

Dusit International, one of Thailand’s leading hotel and property development companies, has announced the opening of Feydhoo Hall, a landmark event venue at dusitD2 Feydhoo Maldives, redefining the possibilities for meetings, celebrations, and destination events in the Maldives.

Designed to bring scale, flexibility, and creativity to island gatherings, Feydhoo Hall represents a bold step forward in positioning the Maldives as a dynamic destination for conferences, weddings, and large-scale social occasions.

Feydhoo Hall offers a versatile event complex designed to accommodate a wide range of gatherings, from corporate meetings and conferences to weddings and social celebrations.

At its core is the 390 sqm Main Hall, capable of hosting:

  • Up to 300 guests in theatre-style setup
  • Up to 240 guests for dining and banquet-style events
  • Up to 200 guests for cocktail-style receptions
  • Up to 144 guests in cluster-round configuration

Enhancing the flexibility of the venue are additional dedicated spaces, including:

  • A 110 sqm Veranda Terrace, ideal for welcome receptions, breakout sessions, and pre-event gatherings, accommodating up to 100 guests for cocktail-style events.
  • A spacious 1,000 sqm Lawn Space, perfect for large-scale outdoor celebrations, destination weddings, and open-air events, accommodating up to 400 guests for cocktail receptions and up to 350 guests for dining setups.
  • The 55 sqm Ekugai Meeting Room, designed for smaller meetings and executive sessions, accommodating up to 30 guests in theatre or dining setup and 24 guests in cluster-round format.

Together, these integrated spaces create a seamless indoor-outdoor event experience, allowing planners to design dynamic and personalised event journeys.

True to the dusitD2 brand’s lifestyle-driven philosophy, Feydhoo Hall introduces a fresh approach to meetings and events — where productivity meets creativity in an inspiring island setting.

The venue offers flexible meeting formats designed to suit different event needs, including:

  • Half-Day Meeting Package (4 hours) — ideal for focused sessions, executive meetings, and creative workshops.
  • Full-Day Meeting Package (8 hours) — designed for immersive conferences, extended workshops, and large-scale corporate gatherings.

These thoughtfully structured packages provide planners with the flexibility to create impactful and seamless experiences, whether hosting intimate strategy sessions or dynamic full-day events.

Located just seven minutes by speedboat from Velana International Airport, dusitD2 Feydhoo Maldives combines accessibility with vibrant lifestyle energy, offering event planners and guests a rare balance between convenience and tropical escape.

With the introduction of Feydhoo Hall, the resort strengthens its position as a versatile destination — not only for leisure travellers but also for international conferences, creative retreats, luxury weddings, and large-scale social celebrations seeking something refreshingly different in the Maldives.

Continue Reading

Business

BBM expands retail presence with new Hulhumalé outlet

Published

on

Bestbuy Maldives (BBM) opened a new wholesale store in Hulhumalé Phase 2 on Monday.

The outlet is located on the ground floor of Lot 20286, Nirolhu Magu, and is intended to improve access to BBM’s imported goods for residents of Hulhumalé Phase 2 and for businesses operating in the area.

According to the company, the opening forms part of its plan to expand services closer to customers in line with population growth in Hulhumalé.

With the opening of the new store, BBM’s full range of imported and distributed products will be available at the Hulhumalé Phase 2 location. These include consumer goods from international brands such as Lifebuoy, Vaseline and Unilever.

The store will also stock wholesale food products from brands including Daily, Cavin’s and Redman.

BBM has supplied goods to resorts, hotels and retail outlets across the Maldives for several years.

Continue Reading

Action

Ataraxis Grand & Spa hosts integrated work-and-dive corporate retreat in Fuvahmulah

Published

on

Ataraxis Grand & Spa recently hosted a week-long, closed corporate offsite in Fuvahmulah for a US-based artificial intelligence company, highlighting the island’s growing suitability for integrated work-and-experience retreats. The retreat brought a group of 36 international professionals to the property, which was reserved exclusively for the programme.

Designed as a private company offsite, the stay combined structured daily work sessions with guided diving and beginner-friendly surf experiences, creating a balanced format that blended focused collaboration with physical reset.

A notable component of the programme was dive training and certification. During the retreat, 17 participants completed their Open Water certification, while a further six undertook the Advanced Open Water course, with training and dives scheduled alongside work sessions as part of the integrated itinerary.

Throughout the week, participants worked on-site using dedicated shared spaces supported by reliable high-speed internet, allowing meetings, informal collaboration and scheduled activities to take place within a single, uninterrupted environment. This setup enabled teams to move seamlessly between work periods and organised ocean activities without leaving the property.

Fuvahmulah’s natural and operational advantages formed a key part of the retreat’s appeal. As one of the Maldives’ largest inhabited islands, it offers immediate access to pelagic dive sites, internationally recognised shark diving and surf breaks suitable for instruction, alongside the infrastructure required to support extended group stays.

The offsite reflects a growing preference among technology and knowledge-sector teams for small-scale retreats that prioritise concentrated work environments and team cohesion over traditional conference formats. Such programmes typically involve longer stays and higher per-capita spend, aligning with sustainable, quality-driven tourism models.

The retreat also demonstrates how locally operated properties such as Ataraxis Grand & Spa are supporting this shift by delivering unified environments where accommodation, workspaces, connectivity and curated experiences operate as a single programme rather than separate services.

As organisations continue to explore alternative formats for strategy sessions, team resets and creative offsites, Ataraxis Grand & Spa’s experience positions Fuvahmulah as an increasingly viable destination for integrated corporate retreats.

Ataraxis Grand & Spa offers work-and-dive retreat programmes in Fuvahmulah that combine accommodation, dedicated workspaces, high-speed connectivity and organised diving and surfing.

Further information on retreat formats and dive-inclusive stays is available via the Ataraxis Grand & Spa website.

Continue Reading
Advertisement

Trending

Copyright all rights reserved by Maldives Promotion House 2023.