The United Kingdom's Travel Bulletin Indian Ocean Showcase 2023 took place in Chelmsford, Essex, England, on January 31, and the Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC/Visit Maldives) displayed and marketed the Maldives and all of its offerings there.
With ten years of experience, Travel Bulletin is a leading UK travel trade brand that provides news, training, networking opportunities, and the chance for travel agencies to network with leading international suppliers of tourism-related goods, services, and experiences, including destinations. The Travel Bulletin Indian Ocean Showcase 2023 event offered a venue for buyers and sellers to interact, network, and make deals. MMPRC's PR for the UK market attended the event to represent the Maldives.
MMPRC participated in the event to preserve and strengthen the Maldives brand in the market, to meet and network with top travel trade partners from the area, and to offer the most recent information about the Maldives and the latest tourism products, including unique experiences.
There was a 30-minute B2B networking session with the registrants before the one-day event started. Groups of 8–10 travel agents received 10-minute speed networking sessions with destination presentations at a table reserved for MMPRC at the occasion. As part of the event, participants also hosted a free holiday raffle and provided special gift baskets, gift cards, and networking dinners.
With 179,312 arrivals by December 31st, 2022, the UK was one of the main source markets for the Maldives. This represents 10.7% of the overall market share. In order to keep the momentum for the destination going, MMPRC hosted a number of events in this area last year. This involved attending important trade exhibitions like WTM London 2022, going on familiarization visits, and participating in destination roadshows in London, Manchester, and Newcastle. It also included joint marketing initiatives like the one with British Airways.
Throughout 2023, a lot of similar events are also scheduled for this market.
MMPRC carried out 178 marketing actions in total in 2022. Over 90 marketing efforts, 44 fair appearances, six roadshows, ten virtual events, eighteen familiarization tours, and ten additional international events were all included in this. The Maldives received its 1.6 millionth visitor for the year in December 2022, two weeks before the year's conclusion, achieving the national tourist arrivals goal established by President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih for the year 2022. Additionally, the Maldives won the title of "World's Leading Destination" at the 2022 World Travel Awards for the third consecutive year. For the first time in the history of our country, MMPRC was also given the coveted title of "World's Leading Tourist Board."
