SINGAPORE, 22 March 202: The Maldives’ travel business is showing signs of recovery as airline ticketing volumes are on the increase, according to the latest air ticketing data from ForwardKeys.
Tourism reopened last July 2020, when the Maldives announced borders had reopened for international travel. The first to arrive on the scene were tourists from the UAE. Then once the respective governments of Russia then Ukraine lifted international travel bans, the two nations have been neck-to-neck in supply the most visits to the Maldives.
However, this shift in key market marketing hasn’t solely been due to government announcements and flight corridors.
“Our initial strategies for the market had to be completely shifted due to the pandemic. We altered our focus to utilize online & digital platforms to maintain the destination presence and partnered with some of the leading Russian tourism-related organizations, operators, travel agents and travel TV channels to spread knowledge about our destination to boost arrivals from Russia,” says Visit Maldives managing director Thoyyib Mohamed.
There has also been a change in the typical passenger profile, with the Maldives appealing to more families representing a swing from its former dependence on couples.
Air ticketing data shows an increase in passengers travelling in threes and fours. Moreover, the destination in January and February saw a rise in travellers flying in premium economy, up by 4.8% year on year, and even in business class, up by 4.1% year on year. First-class travel has also seen a modest growth of 0.6% year on year.
(Source: ForwardKeys)
