Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) has opened up for expressions of interest to participate in the ITB China 2024.

MMPRC announced that Maldives will be represented at ITB China 2024, to be held from 27 to 29 of May 2024.

ITB China is one of the largest B2B exclusive trade shows focused on the Chinese travel Market.

This year's ITB China is to be held at the Shanghai World Expo Exhibition and Convention Center.

MMPRC disseminated a circular for expressions of interests for ITB China 2024 in order to estimate the overall number of companies interested to participate in this event before booking the stand space.

MMPRC states that the corporation aims to be able to give opportunities to all interested parties to participate in this fair and facilitate a platform for industry partners to promote their individual products and experiences.

Interested tourism industry companies who would like to take part in this event with MMPRC can express their interest via the google form (Expression of Interest for ITB China 2024) before 15:00 hours on Sunday, 21st January 2024.

China has long remained one of the most significant markets to the Maldives tourism industry. Prior to the global pandemic, China was the number one source market to the Maldives. The arrival numbers are steadily rising, nearing pre-pandemic levels following the re-opening of the global borders.

Last year, Maldives welcomed over 172,163 tourists from China, notably making it the top three source markets for the Maldives. This year, Maldives welcomed 1,676 arrivals from China during the very first week of the year.

Welcoming the first tourist of 2024 to the Maldives, Minister of Tourism Ibrahim Faisal noted that this is a fantastic start to what promises to be another successful year for the Maldives’ tourism industry.

He expressed keen interest in diversifying and exploring additional markets to reach this year’s arrival target.

MMPRC’s MD Fathimath Thaufeeq has earlier told media that efforts would be underway to amp up work to expand tourism markets of the island nation. As such, she revealed that even now, MMPRC is conducting research to find new markets, presently.