The Maldives participated in the Moscow International Travel Trade Show (MITTS) to promote the island nation as an attractive tourist destination. Several roadshows are also planned in four Russian cities.

This is the first time the island nation is being marketed by Visit Maldives physically at a fair since the borders re-opened following the COVID-19 pandemic, according to SunOnline International.

Hosted in Moscow from March 16-18, the MITTS represented a platform for destinations and travel trade professionals from across the world to interact with travel agents and tour operators based in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

As many as 23 industry participants from 12 companies participated in the fair along with the Visit Maldives team. The aim of the Maldivian delegation was to strengthen destination presence in the Russian market, as well as to provide updated information on what stringent safety measures have been implemented to control the spread of COVID-19.

After the trade show, Visit Maldives will host roadshows in the Russian cities of Moscow, Kazan, St Petersburg and Ekaterinburg from March 21 to 26 March, according to edition.mv.

According to recent statistics from the Ministry of Tourism, Russia is one of the top-performing markets with 40,698 recorded tourist arrivals in 2021.

The Maldives reopened borders on July 15 and managed to attract 172, 366 tourists before 2020 drew to an end.

On average, Maldives recorded 3,000 arrivals per day after it opened up for travel, peaking at 4,200 per day during December. According to the Tourism Ministry, a total of 200,871 tourist arrivals have been recorded so far this year.