The first virtual fair to be held in Turkey, the Travel Turkey Izmir (TTI) Digital Fair 2021, has kicked off with Maldives as a participant along with other parties active within global tourism.

This year's TTI Fair will be conducted between 25 and 27 February, and is the 14th edition in the Travel Turkey Izmir series. While many global tourism brands took part in the event, Visit Maldives also hosted a special stand at the fair in order to advertise the Maldives as a travel destination to potential guests.

The Visit Maldives stand at TTI will provide up-to-date information about the many opportunities available to travelers in the Maldives, in addition to promoting the island nation as a safe travel destination amid the global Covid-19 pandemic, according to the Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC). Participants of TTI will be made aware of how ideal a holiday option Maldives is post-Covid due to our isolated islands and small population.

In addition to this, a special video marketing the safety perks of Maldives as a travel destination amid the global pandemic will also be aired during the fair, with MMPRC Managing Director Thoyyib Mohamed set to address participants at the fair. He will be shedding light on the difficulties faced to the travel and tourism sector in the Maldives due to Covid-19, while also sharing the monumental steps being taken to ensure the health and safety of both locals and travelers alike across the island nation.

Maldives will have the opportunity to initiate new business relationships with the participants of the fair, with an appointments system set in place for participants and attendees of TTI to partake in further networking exchanges. The TTI Digital Fair will help market the Maldives to different parts of the world. Direct flights have now been established between Maldives and Turkey as well, which will result in the TTI further expanding the Maldives' tourism market among Turkish travelers as well.

Despite the overwhelming challenges faced to the tourism sector in the Maldives following the Covid-19 pandemic, 2020 has been a year marked by many successes for the island nation. Maldives was awarded the World Travel Awards World's Leading Destination title last year, with which further markets have opened up for Maldivian tourism. At the close of the last year, 554,494 tourists had visited the Maldives, and over 180,000 travelers have visited the Maldives thus far in the on-going year.

Visit Maldives also recently took part in Meet Asia's South East Asia Roadshow, part of the Virtual Travel Roadshow being conducted by ITB Asia.