Maldives plans campaigns in India to entice tourists again

The Maldives, which is targeting to host 2 million foreign tourists this year, is looking to attract Indian travellers through trade shows in cities outside metros in India, roping in film stars and influencers and promoting varied segments of tourism.

It has invited India’s T20 World Cup winning team to visit the archipelagic state and is also offering it as a destination for shooting Indian films.

Arrivals from India in the Maldives fell during the January-July period this year, to around 71,000 from 110,000 a year earlier, Ibrahim Shiuree, managing director of the government-backed Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation, told ET.


Shiuree said he hoped overall arrival numbers from India this year would match last year’s count of 209,193 visitors. The numbers were 291,787 in 2021 and 241,369 in 2022.

“I think numbers have reduced mainly because there are other emerging markets for Indians such as Indonesia and Thailand,” he said. “Normally, the first half of the year is off season for us. The second half of the year is the busiest. We hope the numbers will pick up towards the end of the year,” he added.

“We have seen what the Indian market can do. There is potential. We have done a roadshow in Bengaluru in June and now in Delhi that saw participation from destination management companies and hotel chains from the Maldives,” he said. “We could also look at roadshows in tier-two and tier-three markets. We are going to have campaigns besides tying up with celebrities and influencers.”

The top market for the Maldives currently is China, followed by the UK, while India has slipped to the sixth position.

India was the top source market for the Maldives for two-three years following the pandemic, when many celebrities and others travelled to the island country seeking isolation and privacy.

“We have to think out of the box and come up with newer concepts. So, our plan is to introduce film tourism, education tourism and health tourism. We could have exchange programmes with universities. We could have concepts such as marine laboratories. These are the new areas we want to focus on,” said Shiuree.

“The Maldives can be a great location for shooting Indian films. These are the segments that we would like to consider for the India market. We met the minister of culture, and he was very accommodating to our suggestions. We want to diversify, and the feedback from the minister was very positive,” he said.