Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC/Visit Maldives) along with 14 industry partners connected with top travel trade buyers to showcase the Maldives and unique experiences at ILTM Cannes 2022.
The event was held at Palais des Festivals et des Congrès, Cannes, France from 05th – 08th December 2022.
ILTM Cannes is one of the top luxury travel trade fairs held in the world. It provides a platform for travel trade partners from France and other markets, to hold meetings with the most exclusive and sought-after travel designers and the world’s finest hospitality brands and destinations. The four-day event include educational sessions, networking, entertainment, and invaluable exposure.
Maldives is renowned for being an ultra-luxurious destination offering deluxe products, services and experiences. MMPRC’s marketing strategies are focused on promoting high-end experiences and other segments through our activities on global platforms. Participation in ILTM Cannes 2022 is aligned with this effort, in order to provide the latest information about the indulgent experiences available in the Sunny Side of Life to audiences from France and other major markets.
The Maldives’ stand at ILTM reflected the aspects of high-end tourism. During this event, officials conducted pre-scheduled B2B meetings with travel trade partners, provide destination information and promotional materials to visitors, and conduct trade surveys to get more information about the market.
MMPRC’s focus was on connecting and networking with trade buyers from France; strengthening existing relations; providing them with latest updates of the destination and our unique geographical aspects; and experiences offered to tourists seeking luxurious vacations.
The event also provided the opportunity to strengthen Maldives’ brand to sustain top-of-the-mind position in this market and increase arrivals from this segment. ILTM was also a great platform for industry partners to attain partnerships, discuss business deals, and market their individual properties and experiences.
France is the 7th top source market to the Maldives with 40,048 tourist arrivals recorded from January to November 9th 2022. As the company responsible for marketing the destination across the globe, MMPRC has held over 150 activities in 24 markets by the beginning of the fourth quarter this year including; participation in fairs and exhibitions; marketing campaigns with the travel trade; media interviews and coverage; online events; and familiarisation trips. The culmination of these activities come in the form of ever-growing arrival figures, now closing in on achieving 1.6 million visitors target for this year in December.
The greatest testament to the success of MMPRC’s activities came this year, as the Maldives secured the title of ‘World’s Leading Destination’ (among several other accolades) at the 2022 World Travel Awards, globally recognised as the hallmark of industry excellence. This is the third consecutive year that the Maldives had successfully earned this prestigious title, a shining testimony of the trust placed in the ‘magic of Maldivian hospitality’ by travellers from all over the globe. This year, MMPRC also secured the title of ‘World’s Leading Tourist Board’ for the first time in our nation’s history.
