With the beginning of a new decade, the Maldives has warmly welcomed the first visitor of 2020 this morning at Velana International Airport. The lucky winner Mr. Mohamed Alamer from Bahrain, arrived at the Maldives for vacation with his wife Ms. Sara Aljasim via Gulf Air GF144. He was received by officials from Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC), together with the Maldives Airports Company Limited (MACL), Maldives Immigration, Furaveri Island Resort & Spa, Gulf Air, and Ooredoo Maldives.
The stamping of the first visitor’s passport by the Maldives Immigration commenced the event where Alamer was escorted to the VIP Lounge by MMPRC staff. Alamer was then welcomed by the Minister of Tourism Hon. Ali Waheed and the Managing Director of MMPRC Thoyyib Mohamed. He was presented with a congratulatory certificate and special gifts by MMPRC.
He received a complimentary holiday package sponsored by Furaveri Island Resort & Spa, presented by the minister. Moreover, he also received return flight tickets to the Maldives from Gulf Air, along with a gift package from Ooredoo Maldives.
Speaking at the event, the Managing Director of MMPRC, Thoyyib Mohamed reflected back on the marketing activities of the previous year and the efforts to increase arrivals this year. “We are satisfied with the marketing activities we did last year. I expect to see the outcome of those activities in the coming days. We are targeting to achieve more in 2020. Maldives Year in Russia would be one of the many new initiatives which will be launched this year as part of the diversified marketing activities for 2020” said Thoyyib.
As the first tourist of the year is from Bahrain, Thoyyib highlighted stressed the importance of this market for Maldives tourism.
“The Middle East and GCC region are important markets for us with its high yield, easy accessibility, and potential for growth. A lot of activities were carried out for the market last year and we plan to do more this year. We are having a campaign with Vogue Arabia this January to kick off the 2020 campaign for this market” he added.
The milestone arrival of 1.5 million tourists was achieved by Maldives 38 days ahead of time in 2019 with total arrivals reaching 1.67 million by the end of the year. In 2019, more than 130 events including fairs, roadshows, media FAM trips, and joint campaigns were conducted by MMPRC to facilitate in achieving this target.
MMPRC has planned various activities to promote the Maldives further as the most preferred destination for travelers in all major markets this year. They include fairs, roadshows, familiarization trips, outdoor campaigns and joint campaigns targeted to 23 different markets.
