Tag: china

Maldives to intensify Asian and Middle East tourism promotion: TTG Asia

The Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) is set to step up marketing efforts across Asia and the Middle East to try and capitalise on recent arrival numbers from similar emerging markets.

Travel news publication TTG Asia has reported that tourism authorities are pushing ahead with road-show events in Singapore and South Korea next month, after a similar strategy was held last month in a number of Chinese cities.

The report added that familiarisation tours for journalists based in a number of middle eastern markets like Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait and Lebanon were also being conducted.

TTG Asia claimed that the strategy was designed to capitalise on improving visitor numbers to the Maldives during April from markets like China amidst declining custom from countries like Italy.

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Chinese market shows signs of recovery as UK, Italian arrivals plunge in April

Chinese tourist arrivals have shown signs of recovery with a 3.5 percent increase in April 2012 compared to the same period last year, after a massive 34.8 percent decline was recorded in February.

“The Chinese market performed well due to resuming of charter airlines with more frequency and flights from additional cities and strong demand for Maldives. Tour operators’ forecast phenomenal growth in June and July,” observed the Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC).

Figures released by the MMPRC show 10,523 Chinese arrivals during April, still making it the country’s largest market, but only narrowly eclipsing Germany’s 10,145 arrivals.

That 8.1 percent increase in German visitors places the country above the Maldives’ former mainstay market of the UK, which was badly affected by the 2008 economic recession. UK arrivals plunged 20 percent in April this year to 8,934 visitors, compared to 2011.

In its April report, the MMPRC speculated that the UK market would continue to shrink throughout 2012 on the back of a 14.3 percent drop in arrivals so far this year.

Italy, one of the Maldives’ first and traditionally strongest markets, recorded a huge 27 percent drop in arrivals during April compared to the same period  last year.

The MMPPC said the Italian market was not expected to perform well in 2012, due significantly to the bankruptcy of major tour operators in Italy.

“The strict fiscal policies of Italian government also discouraged long haul outbound tourism,” the MMPRC stated. “The whole of Southern Europe is not performing well due to the economic crisis. The region is going to be the most challenging region in terms of arrivals in 2012.”

The Russian market – a favourite at many resorts due to its proportionate affluence, insulation from the economic crisis in Europe and general disregard of political turmoil – grew 24.1 percent compared to April last year.

The MMPRC’s figures show declining occupancy at resorts across the country this year, as markets in the Maldives reshuffle and the country battles negative international publicity around the controversial change of power in February.

Occupancy was down 3 percent in February, 7.4 percent in March and 6.1 percent in April, compared to the corresponding months last year. Bed nights followed a similar pattern.

George Weinmann, CEO of Mega Maldives Airlines – the Maldives’ national carrier that currently flies long-haul services to major Chinese cities including Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Beijing, said the market had recovered through April-May “and we’re now back up to where were – six flights a month to each destination, 12 to Beijing. But we were supposed to reach there two months ago – our first quarter was pitiful,” he told Minivan News.

Mega Maldives halted flights to Hong Kong in February, which were restored on April 4. Flights to Beijing and Shanghai continued non-stop, Weinmann stated.

Such was the anticipated demand that Mega Maldives had taken on a second aircraft and was looking to deploy a third before the end of the year, said Weinmann, adding that such high potential demand for the destination could see the airline conceivably expand to 10 aircraft.

“We’re aiming to add two a year,” he said, expanding the carrier’s reach to developing markets for the Maldives such as Eastern Europe, Australia, South Africa and South Korea.

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Mega Maldives, resorts, tourism officials complete whistle-stop tour of Chinese markets

Deputy Minister of Tourism Mohamed Maleeh Jamaal had claimed the Maldives tourism industry expects “phenomenal growth” in the Chinese market, following the conclusion of a travel roadshow representing the Maldives on a whistle-stop tour of five Chinese cities in one week.

The main aims of the tour, according to Maleeh, were to build confidence in the Maldives as a destination as well as portray the country as an investment opportunity. The roadshow was also intended to update the Chinese industry on new tourism developments in the Maldives.

The tour was a joint enterprise with the Mega Maldives airline and took in all of its current Chinese flight destinations: Beijing, Chengdu, Shenzhen, Hangzhou, and Shanghai. The group also included travel agents, tour operators , and resort companies from the Maldives.

China has become the market leader in terms of visitors to the country. Last year, the number of visitors from China surpassed those from Britain, reaching 198,000. The tour also aimed to publicise the industry’s aims to attract a record 1 million visitors this year.

Recently released figures from the Ministry of Tourism show that total tourist numbers for the first quarter of 2012 were over a quarter of a million.

Overall arrivals for the first quarter of 2012 were up 3.3 percent compared with the figures for the same period in 2011. However, the same figures for the corresponding period in 2011 shown a 12.8 percent from 2010, suggesting a substantial slowdown in growth.

After the political disruptions of this year, there were fears that the now vital Chinese market may have been unsettled. A combination of a quiet period in the Hong Kong tourism market, with the addition of the Maldives being placed by Hong Kong authorities on the country’s travel alerts, saw Mega Maldives cancel its chartered flights from this location on February 18.

Ali Faiz, Marketing Director at Mega Maldives, said that the company had been working hard to educate the Chinese about the Maldives to assuage concerns.

Services from Hong Kong resumed on April 4 and are said by Faiz to be doing well. The amber travel alert, warning tourists to “monitor the situation” and “advising caution”, was introduced on February 8 and remains in place.

“The Chinese market is still a fairly new to Maldives tourism. Most of them don’t understand the geographic nature of the Maldives. This is the difference between the developed markets (Europe) and developing market (China),” said Faiz.

The tourism ministry’s figures reflected this worry with monthly Chinese tourist figures down 34.8 percent for March and 28.4 percent for February, compared with 2011’s numbers.

Despite this, Maleeh said that the Chinese market would continue to grow: “Everyone expects phenomenal arrivals in June and July.”

Describing the tour, he said, “We also wanted to hear from our Chinese counterparts about what the trends are and what Chinese tourists are expecting so we can share this with our industry.”

“This is particularly important as we develop our fourth tourism master-plan. It will help us understand if we are targeting the right market in China,” he continued.

Maleeh also mentioned that attention was given to the recent social and digital media campaign launched shortly before the team left for China. Discussions were held regarding the best way in which joint promotion schemes might be utilised for the Chinese market using social media sites such as Weibo.

The success of the road trip has prompted thoughts of similar events in Japan, South Korea, and possibly Europe, Maleeh told Minivan News.

The Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Company (MMPRC) recently advertised for a PR company to provide “strategic counsel”, “stakeholder engagement”, “proactive” media relations and “key message and storybook development” after the controversial change of power in February.

Boosting tourism confidence was one of the objectives required of the company that successfully bids for the three month contract.

Maleeh commented on this approach at the time of the story: “The main focus right now is increasing investor confidence. We have to include all fronts include economic angles,” he said. “There has been a barrage of international media coverage and we need to try to convert this interest into positive coverage.”

Chinese travel agents contacted by Minivan News during the political crisis expressed concern about cancellations. Shanghai travel agent Sun Yi said she was faced with many cancellations just two days after February 7: ”It has seriously affected our business. Many guests cancelled the Maldivian holiday package which used to be very popular,” she explained.

Social media suggested that the average Chinese traveler was not well informed of the situation in the days following the resignation.

Before most Chinese media outlets had reported news of the Maldives’ change of government, travelers-to-be noticed a post in WEIBO (Chinese version of Twitter) by Maldives resort-based Chinese diving instructor Jai He. After posting the news on WEIBO he was immediately contacted by Chinese media outlets.

Within days, however, a WEIBO search for “Maldives” yielded only a few incomplete statements of the actual events. Most posts voiced only poetic concerns of a tainted dream holiday or honeymoon, or an exaggerated description of the current situation.

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Mega Maldives aims to double number of passengers in 2012

Mega Maldives airlines has today announced plans to more than double the number of passengers it carries this year. The airline flew 31,000 people in its maiden year and plans to hit 70,000 in 2012.

The airline now links the Gan and Ibrahim Nasir airports in the Maldives to four destinations in China. Last year China overtook the United Kingdom to became the biggest tourism market for the Maldives, comprising 15 percent of all arrivals according to Tourism Ministry statistics.

There were fears that the Chinese market had been worried by the political unrest in the country after passenger numbers dropped in February. Some Mega Maldives charter flights were cancelled but a full schedule was resumed earlier this month.

The company held a ceremony welcoming its new cabin crew. Haveeru reports that this brings the total number of staff to 200, of which 60 percent are local. Chief Executive George Weinmann last month told the New York Times that he expected the company’s number of flights between China and the Maldives will have reached 34 by June of this year.

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Chinese tourist arrivals drop 34.8%

Chinese tourist arrivals dropped by 34.8 percent to 12,237 in February compared to the same point last year, according to Asian travel trade newspaper TTG.  Around 6,500 fewer tourists arrived from China last month, largely due to the cancellation of charter flights, which are expected to resume in April.

Visitor numbers to the Maldives dropped by 4.7 percent year on year in February following the political crisis, the industry paper revealed. Arrivals fell from 87,392 to 83,252, after having grown by 13.4 percent when compared with the same period in 2010.

Arrivals from the UK also fell, while visitors from France and Germany rose by 4.9 percent and 25 percent, respectively.

Efforts including familiarisation trips arranged for the media and tour operators have been employed to reassure Chinese tour operators who appear to have been unnerved more than others by the upheavals following February 7.

The Chinese market makes up around a fifth of all tourist arrivals to the Maldives in a sector that indirectly contributes over 70 percent of the country’s GDP.

George Weinmann, Chief Executive of Mega Maldives Airlines, which charters flights between Male’ and multiple Chinese destinations, told the New York Times this week the full schedule of flights was to resume on April 4. He was confident that his business would continue to grow – its employee numbers have doubled in just over a year.

The Maldives sent a group of 200 to the recent ITB trade fair in Berlin, representing 65 companies, to reassure the international markets that the Maldives remained a safe travel destination.

The need for this public relations exercise was reflected by the words of Minister of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), Lord Howell, who felt the need to defend the country‘s image during discussion of the Maldives’ situation in the House of Lords on March 22.

“The Maldives, as my noble friend has said, remains the paradise and attractive tourist area that it has always been and continues to be, because at the moment we do not judge that there is any danger in the tourist areas,” said Howell.

The FCO lifted all travel restrictions to the UK on March, as did Germany, though it has been reported that tourists in resorts have been prevented from taking trips to the capital.

Politics in paradise

The alleged involvement of tourist resort magnates in February’s changeover of power has seen attempts to politicise the tourism industry, in particular to put pressure on tourists to avoid certain resorts.

In the UK, a Maldives Travel Advisory website has been established, grading a number of resorts on a traffic light system, ranging from ‘green’ sites which the advisory urges tourists to visit, ‘amber’ which are under consideration regarding their alleged involvement in the changeover, and ‘red’ which the advisory urges against travel to.

The selective nature of the boycott is indicative of the desire of all sides to shield the image of the tourist industry from long term damage. Of the 107 resorts currently listed on the website, only 12 are listed in the ‘red’ category, with another 12 in the ‘amber’ category.

The Friends of Maldives (FOM) group has attempted to publicise this travel advisory, for example by handing out leaflets outside of a meeting held by the Tourism Minister Ahmed Adheeb Abdul Gafoor in London earlier this month.

This attempt did receive some coverage in the British Media, with prominent columnist for the The Daily Telegraph, Oliver Smith, writing, “The moral implications of visiting the Maldives have been called into question following the downfall of Mr Nasheed.”

Adheeb had earlier expressed concerns that the message of the political and geographical separation of the resorts from wider Maldivian society was not being made clear enough: “That message is not going out. People don’t know that the resorts are separate [from the rest of the Maldives], and international headlines have made people panic.”

The Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) has employed the services of a professional PR company, Rooster Creative Public Relations Ltd to represent its interests in the UK, explaining, “The purpose of having a full time PR and Marketing agency is to overcome the image that is continuously spoiling in the UK market due to the current political turbulence.”

Despite the presence of some Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) supporters outside of the venue who distributed literature relating to police brutality, the party insists that politics should not impinge on tourism.

In a recent interview, the former Minister for Tourism Dr Mariyam Zulfa told Minivan News, “It has never been the MDPs intention or any other political party’s intention to harm the economy in any way.”

Concerns that politics will damage the image of the destination could be premature. In the days after the coup, a report on Reuters that tourists “barely put down their cocktails during the political crisis” appears emblematic of the attitude of those seeking relaxation in paradise.

In a February poll taken on the Chinese social networking site Weibo, only a third of over 8000 respondents said that the coup had affected them. Tourists at Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA) who were recently asked their opinion about the politics in Male’ did not show concern.

A couple from London said they were unaware of any issues, whilst a Swiss tourist stated his belief that the problem was one for the state to deal with and should not concern tourists.

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Chinese arrivals to Maldives drop but rates hold: TTG Asia

The political shake-up in the Maldives has affected Chinese arrivals – now its biggest source – and triggered concerns in its traditional Europe and Japan markets, but rates appear to be holding, reports Mimi Hudoyo for TTG Asia, from ITB Berlin.

Let’s Go Maldives managing director, Mohamed Riyaz, said his company had seen 12 per cent of its Chinese bookings wiped out: “The Maldives gets between three and five charter flights from China every day, so if we lose one or two flights that means we lose quite a large volume.”

Maldives Marketing & PR Corp deputy director, Ibrahim Asim, said the China market was “quite sensitive about political issues”.

“Buyers (from other markets) at the show have also shown concern, but we have not seen a significant impact from the other markets so far,” he said. “Having said that, we are putting together plans to minimise the impact, and we expect to launch these by the end of this month.”

China is the Maldives largest market in terms of tourist arrivals, at nearly 23 percent.

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Chinese government offered to repair police stations, courts in Addu: Economic Minister

The Chinese government had offered to cover the damage to police stations and civic buildings in Addu City, which were destroyed in the aftermath of a police crackdown on demonstrators in Male’ on February 8, Economic Minister Ahmed Mohamed has claimed according to Haveeru.

Mohamed said police and the judiciary had been asked to draft a project proposal for China to evaluate.

“If we want to seek foreign assistance we need to submit such projects to take it forward. The government of China has proposed assistance in repairing the damage in Addu,” Haveeru reported Mohamed as saying.

He was not specific as to whether the offer to repair the Rf183 million (US$11.8 million) in damage would take the form of a financial loan or foreign aid assistance.

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India has let the Maldives down: Headlines Today

Ousted president Mohamed Nasheed, 44, was talking to his core group of advisers at his ancestral home ‘Keenerege’ in Male when the news of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s letter of support to new President Waheed Hassan Manik, 59, came in, writes Gaurav C Sawant, for Headlines Today.

A shocked Nasheed, or Anni as he is known to friends, could not speak for several minutes. Those in the room say there were tears in his eyes. “He felt he had been let down by a friend,” said Ameen Faisal, Nasheed’s close friend and the country’s national security adviser before the alleged coup.

Nasheed had stepped out of his home on February 8 to address his Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) workers when the ‘notorious’ Star Force crackdown began. The former president took refuge in a hardware store but they were found and taken into custody. Nasheed, who was the first democratically elected president of Maldives, says he was ousted in a military-backed coup and that Waheed, the vice-president, was involved.

Faisal, who was high commissioner to India-designate till the alleged coup on February 7, says India has made a strategic blunder in the Indian Ocean Region. “I was the defence minister of Maldives. I know how both China and Pakistan are desperately trying to make inroads here. We are India’s natural allies. Yet instead of supporting the first democratically elected president, India put its weight behind forces that want to make Maldives the Pakistan of the Indian Ocean,” Faisal insists.

Nasheed, too, expressed his disappointment with India’s response. “India’s stand is misguided and ill-informed. I hope they will consider a course correction,” he told India Today. Nasheed feels New Delhi is taking him for granted and India may lose its influence to China, Faisal added.

China is desperately pushing its economic diplomacy. “The Maldivian National Defence Force was keen to renew its defence agreement with Beijing. Twice they came to me when I was president. I refused,” Nasheed said.

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Maldives “too expensive” say tourists

With most of the tourists ranking Maldives as an expensive holiday destination in a 2011 survey, the industry is reminded of the longstanding need to explore means to change that perception, as it faces new challenges in sustaining the growing China market while European arrivals drop.

The “Maldives Visitor Survey 2011” compiled by the private consulting firm Commerce, Development and Environment (CDE) in collaboration with Tourism Ministry, depicts the tourist’s perspective on industry related products and services, reason for visiting and expenditure.

Nearly 3000 tourists who arrived in Maldives in April 2011 were given questionnaires, which were collected for analysis before their departure.

Too expensive

According to the report released today, 46 percent of the tourists believed accommodation is too expensive despite the high rankings for services at the place of stay.

Soft drinks, alcohol were also rated expensive by 42 percent, while food, water and souvenirs received a similar ranking from 41 percent of tourists polled.

Transport by sea and air, including sports activities, meanwhile made it to the top three on the “value for money” category.

The report indicates that 53 percent of the tourists spent a minimum of US$1000 during their stay in Maldives, while the expenditure trends show an increase.

However, speaking at the launching ceremony, tourism tycoon “Champa” Hussain Afeef demanded more accurate figures on expenditure, with comparisons to rival small island tourism destinations.

He also contended that the Maldives is “not an expensive country”, and that this was a mere “perception”.

“We have very top end hotels to come to” he said, which offers high quality products targeted to the tourists arriving from the traditional European market.

He insisted that resorts still offer beds at US$250 rate and prices have not increased since the commencement of Tourism Goods and Services Tax (TGST).

Tourism Minister Mariyam Zulfa agreed with Afeef.

“The current perception is coming about from the availability of current high end products,” adding that the prices cannot be lowered.

The government was moving towards boosting mid-market tourism, Zulfa observed. “This will provide more value for money, comfortable accommodation affordable to more people who want to visit Maldives,” she said.

Adapting to the Chinese market

The need to adapting to the Chinese market, which is dominating 15 percent of arrivals and plugging the gaps left by a decline in traditional European market, was highlighted by the survey team and the government.

Special Envoy Ibrahim Hussain Zaki, who launched the survey report today, reiterated that China is the dominating market and “products need to be changed to adapt to China market”.

“Otherwise we will not be able to sustain the market,” he said.

However, some resort operators inclined towards relying on the traditional European market.

“We need to find a strategy to maintain our traditional original market,” Sun Travel and Tours Chairman and MP Ahmed Siyam said, raising concerns over the long term dependence on Chinese market.

“We noticed arrivals from Taiwan increased in 2002. But after five years it dropped. And now we don’t see a single Taiwanese tourist here,” he claimed. “We must ask why Chinese are coming to Maldives. They don’t like the sun. They don’t like the beach or the diving.”

Negative publicity

The survey team observed that the Maldives is chosen as a destination mostly based on material published on internet, or from word of mouth. Therefore, it is critical to safeguard the reputation as a holiday destination, report recommends.

Shiyam meanwhile pointed out that the industry is threatened by increasing “negative publicity”, which has reportedly mounted due to the mass religious protest on December 23, 2011, and the short-lived nationwide spa ban imposed following protesters’ calls to close down the spas and massage parlors claiming that they doubled as brothels.

Shiyam claimed that the spa was one of the most enjoyed activities and their closure would create serious concerns. “We need to isolate tourism from politics to ensure sustainable tourism growth,” he asserted.

According to the report, snorkelling was enjoyed by 41 percent of tourists while diving and spa treatments received the same ranking from 17 percent tourists.

It also stated that one in four visitors return to the Maldives.

The main attractions include the Maldives natural environment, sun and peacefulness. Over half of the tourists rated the Maldives natural environment, quality of products, security and hospitality better than other similar destinations such as Seychelles, Mauritius, Thailand, Indonesia and Fiji.

However, the tourists were looking for improvement in cafes, restaurants, visits to capital Male and shopping, and fewer transfer delays.

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