67% of Chinese travelers have said that Maldives is the safest destination, while 90% agreed that they would travel to Maldives. This was revealed by a new survey of 1,100 qualified Chinese travelers in first tier cities by hospitality consulting group C9 Hotelworks and Delivering Asia Communications focusing on travel sentiment to the Maldives.
“Travel safety is a key post-crisis factor for all overseas travelers including Chinese,” commenting on the report findings C9’s Managing Director Bill Barnett said. “What is interesting from the China responses was that 67% of those surveyed considered the Maldives to be a safer holiday choice compared to other destinations. While a lingering ‘fear factor’ is a COVID-19 consequence, the country is likely to be seen as a safe haven given its inherent island isolation.”
The majority of the respondents went with beach villa for accommodation types while 4 star resorts was most voted as the type of hotel stay.
The data also saw 75% of respondents prefer independent travel to Maldives versus being part of a group. 38% wanted to book hotels and flights separately.
A rising tide of consumers identified direct or social media channels to book a Maldives holiday with Fliggy, WeChat and hotel websites accounting for over a third of the expected share demand.
China is the largest source market for Maldives tourism. Chinese market maintained its position as the top contributor to Maldives tourism with market share of 16.7% (284,029) in 2019.
Featured image: Asad Photo (Ibrahim Asad)
