In an effort to boost tourist arrivals from China, the Maldives launched two major promotional campaigns in China, Sun news reported. The government-owned Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) is conducting these campaigns. 

MMPRC designed two programs for the promotion of the Maldives’ tourism in China. It includes an ‘Online Roadshow’ and an information portal for its travel industry in WeChat- a popular messaging platform among Chinese.

Online Roadshow is being conducted from November 30 to December 2 in three segments; a webinar, an online exhibition, and thereafter one on one meetings. The idea behind the whole campaign is to assure the potential visitors that the Maldives is a relatively secure travel destination, MMPRC said. 

In the pre COVID times, the Maldives used to receive most tourists from China, but the trend discontinued when the Maldives reopened its tourism on July 15 this year. 

Tourism-a sector which forms the backbone of the archipelago economy- suffered a heavy blow after the world shut down due to the pandemic. The Maldivian government introduced a slew of reforms and measures to revive tourism in the country. 

The Country receives more than half of its revenue from the sector, and the downfall in the industry caused a huge budget deficit as high as 50 percent this year.