The Maldives Marketing and PR Corporation (MMPRC) has today launched a three-city tour of China in an effort to further boost the number of Chinese tourists.
Taking in Chongqing, Chengdu, and Guangzhou over the next five days, twelve industry groups will also take part in the roadshow
“This road show is the perfect platform to establish a more extensive contact with the China travel trade,” read an MMPRC press release today.
“It is also an opportunity for the Chinese market to be educated on Maldives, its serene beauty and the delicate surroundings.”
After becoming the market leader in terms of visitors to the Maldives in 2011, Chinese visitors now represent nearly one third of all arrivals, totalling 331,000 in 2013.
“Maldives is now positioned to seize the market opportunity created by China’s increasing demand for luxury outbound travel. Hence, this is a great opportunity to promote the destination and to continue to strengthen the image of Maldives in the Chinese Market,” said the MMPRC.
The rapid growth in tourist arrivals has preceded a strengthening of diplomatic relations, with Xi Jinpeng becoming the first Chinese head of state to visit the Maldives last month.
Among a number of MoUs signed during the visit was an agreement to introduce mechanisms to deal with the issue of safety and security of Chinese tourists in the Maldives.
While a Chinese national died last month following a motorcycle accident in the capital Malé, the most common cause of injuries and fatalities among Chinese visitors are related to water sports.
Responding to anecdotal reports of Chinese visitors’ eating habits while visiting the Maldives, Jinpeng was said to have called upon his countrymen to “eat less instant noodles and more local seafood”.
The Maldives’ President Abdulla Yameen expressed his hope that Chinese arrivals would increase three-fold over the next four years.
“Hosting this road show will result in continuous boost in arrivals from China in the years to come,” said the MMPRC today.
The MMPRC conducted a similar event in China in 2012, while a similar event was carried out by the MMPRC in Australia last May in an attempt to break
into the relatively untouched Australian market.
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