A team of media professionals from leading magazines and publications from the Netherlands has departed the Maldives upon the conclusion of a week-long familiarisation trip. The team visited the Maldives by invitation from Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) from April 6-13.
Consisting of popular writers, journalists, and professionals from leading magazines and publications in the Netherlands, the total reach of the team exceeds millions of readers. The team was hosted at Joali Being, Grand Park Kodhipparu Maldives, and Crossroads Maldives for the duration of the trip. Under the theme of Wellness, the team experienced the world-renowned Maldivian hospitality and tried activities and dishes unique to the properties based on the established theme. The team will publish articles about the destination and host resorts in their respective magazines and publications, which have extensive reach among affluent travelers from the Netherlands.
This familiarisation trip provided the Maldives with the perfect opportunity to promote the destination as a safe haven for travelers from the Netherlands and to promote the unique experiences and individual tourism products of the Maldives. The trip is organised as part of the marketing strategy for the Netherlands market, aiming to provide the latest information about the travel guidelines to potential travelers from the region. The strategy also aims to market the unique geography of our scattered islands, making it one of the safest destinations in the world. This trip further fell under a new short-term strategy devised to address the evolving geopolitical climate in the world following the effects of the Russia-Ukraine war. With Russia topping the arrivals figures in recent years, the strategy is aimed at mitigating the potential negative impact on arrival numbers from this region by restrategizing marketing activities in selected markets to minimise the potential adverse effects on the Maldives tourism industry and the nation’s economy.
This is the first activity being held by MMPRC for the Netherlands to promote the Maldives as a top-of-the-mind destination for tourists from this market. The activity is forecasted to increase arrival figures and bookings from the Netherlands to the Maldives. There are several other marketing and advertising activities in the pipeline for this market for this year, including print advertising campaigns, digital media marketing, and social media campaigns.
The Maldives recorded 5,100 arrivals from the Netherlands in 2021.