Maldives Border Miles has officially commenced with the first tourist of 2021, today. It is a three tier, and the world’s first nationwide loyalty program for tourists. The program is an initiate of Maldives Immigration and developed with Ministry of Tourism, Maldives Marketing & Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) and Maldives Airports Company Limited (MACL).
Tourists can register to the program and start earning points by travelling to Maldives from 1st January 2021. Once a tourist is registered as a member of the program, they will earn points based on the duration of stay, visits to celebrate their special occasions, visits on local occasions of Maldives, frequency of visits, and other aspects.
Members of the program will get benefits based on their tier status. They shall earn a certain amount of points to reach each tier; 500 points for Aida (Bronze Tier), 2,000 points for Antara (Silver Tier) and 4,000 points for Abaarana (Gold Tier), which will be defined by a set variety of rewards, services or benefits, increasing in value as members progress with the loyalty status.
In a special ceremony held today at Velana International Airport, Controller General of Maldives Immigration, Mohamed Ahmed Hussain, welcomed the first tourist of 2021 by awarding Aida Tier of Maldives Border Miles program. The tourist was also welcomed by Managing Director of MMPRC, Mr. Thoyyib Mohamed, Deputy Minister of Tourism Ahmed Athif, and senior officials of MACL.
Following the launching of the program, Controller General said that the idea of the program came because the journey of a tourist begins from the immigration officer at the arrival. He believes that this program would increase the repeated travelers to Maldives. Additionally, he stated that, this is an effort to achieve the components of Strategic Action Plan of the Government.
The Managing Director of MMPRC, Mr. Thoyyib Mohamed, highlighted on the importance of marketing such an initiation and congratulated Maldives Immigration on its commencement. “As we greet and hand over the Maldives Border Miles loyalty program card to the first visitor of 2021, our sincere hope is that this program aids our objective to increase tourist arrivals for the year and produces a beneficial effect on the tourism industry. We look forward to seeing its success in the approaching days and we ensure Maldives Immigration and the stakeholders that we will give our active support and cooperation”, Mr. Thoyyib Mohamed said.
Explaining about the program, the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of MACL, Mr. Gordon Andrew Stewart stated that the Maldives Border Miles program is the first of its kind and an innovative way to attract global travellers to the Maldives. He added that, “to support this program, we are maintaining a high level of safety standards assuring that Velana International Airport is safe for all our travellers. We already attained the ACI International Health Accreditation certification which recognizes the steps we have implemented at our airport. Maldives is picking up fast after border reopened on mid July 2020. We are seeing increasing number of flights and tourist arrivals every month. I thank and congratulate Team Maldives for the wonderful work, and I believe
promising days are ahead for this nation”.
The introduction of Maldives Border Miles will flourish Maldives as a tourist destination and attract key tourism markets across the world. Furthermore, it is also a golden opportunity for repeaters to rediscover the best of Maldives and get the most out of their visit to the sunny side of life.