Airline and Maldives tourism industry will work together on marketing activities to further grow international tourism to the tropical getaway

18 July, 2021

Qatar Airways and Visit Maldives have agreed a strategic partnership to further grow international tourism to the tropical island getaway.

The agreement brings together an airline and destination that have been leaders throughout the pandemic in providing safe, reliable and luxurious travel experiences despite the many challenges.

The strategic partnership will see the two organisations collaborate on marketing activities in several markets around the world to further grow international visitor numbers to the Maldives, maximising the opportunities provided by Qatar Airways’ extensive global network of over 140 destinations.

Less than a year after being the first international airline to resume services to the Maldives in July 2020 with daily flights, Qatar Airways expanded operations to four daily on 1 July 2021. Passengers travelling to the Maldives can enjoy the airline’s renowned 5-star service on board a mix of the airline’s state-of-the-art Airbus A320 and Boeing 777 aircraft.

Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, His Excellency Mr Akbar Al Baker said: “The Maldives has always been a strategically important destination in our network, as demonstrated by our airline being the first to resume international services and our rapid expansion of flights from daily to four daily in less than 12 months. This partnership with Visit Maldives is a natural next step in achieving both of our organisations’ long term objectives for this route and we look forward to working closely with Visit Maldives to help further grow international tourism to the Maldives.”

Managing Director of Visit Maldives, Mr. Thoyyib Mohamed said, “I am delighted that Qatar Airways has increased flights to the Maldives! This increase is an indication of Qatar Airways’ continued trust and support in the future of Maldivian tourism. Qatar Airways have always supported us at Visit Maldives, the tourism marketing body of Maldives, with our global marketing campaigns. We appreciate the immense support given by Qatar Airways during this challenging period in history. The increase in flight frequency from Qatar Airways gives confidence to travellers across the world that Maldives is one of the safest destinations to travel to during this time.

“With regular joint webinars conducted for key markets, launching of special packages such as “safe travel bubble package” last year, and with an exciting joint campaign targeting 14 markets in the pipeline,  Qatar Airways is instrumental in the marketing campaigns undertaken by Visit Maldives to promote Maldives as a safe haven. We are extremely excited about this decision by Qatar Airways, and we look forward to seeing the success of this new development.”

Adding to that, the Maldives Minister of Tourism, Hon. Dr. Abdulla Mausoom said: “Qatar Airways was there to reopen the Maldives borders and restart tourism. The touchdown of Qatar Airways flight QR672 from Doha to Male on 15th July 2020, with 129 passengers was a new beginning for the airline as well as the Maldives. Since then the presence and frequency of flights has been increasing. Being amongst the top three passenger carriers to the Maldives, we appreciate the support and engagement of Qatar Airways in the Maldives tourism recovery. With the addition of these new frequencies to Maldives, Qatar Airways is sending a strong message to the world, a commitment, that when the borders and gates open they will be there. We are glad they are here in the Maldives. Thank you Qatar Airways for being an important partner of the Tourism Success Story of Maldives.”

Since reopening the borders for international travellers on 15th July 2020, the Maldives has been hailed a major tourism success story amidst the pandemic. With an arrival figure of almost one million travellers, the Maldivian tourism industry is on the path to achieving pre-pandemic arrival figures. Travellers from the Middle East region were among the leading arrivals to the Maldives post the lockdown period and continue to grow stronger day-by-day.

The success of Maldivian tourism industry can be attributed to the blessings of the natural socially-distanced geography of Maldives and the immense effort undertaken by all relevant industries in Maldives.. In addition, stringent measures are undertaken at every step of the process to ensure the utmost safety and wellbeing of travellers, tourism industry employees, and the local community.

As travellers return to the skies with Qatar Airways, they can take comfort knowing that they are travelling with the only airline in the world that has, together with its state-of-the-art global hub Hamad International Airport, achieved four 5-Star Skytrax ratings – including the prestigious 5-Star Airline Rating, 5-Star Airport Rating, 5-Star COVID-19 Airline Safety Rating and 5-Star COVID-19 Airport Safety Rating. These achievements highlight Qatar Airways’ commitment to providing our passengers with an industry-leading experience at every point of their journey, including the highest possible level of health and safety standards that safeguard the wellbeing of our passengers both on the ground and in the air.

Passengers can book flights with peace of mind, knowing that Qatar Airways offers unlimited date changes and fee-free refunds for all tickets issued before 31 August 2021, for travel completed by 31 May 2022. The carrier’s industry-leading flexible booking policy also provides the permanent feature of exchanging tickets for a travel voucher with 10% additional value for all customers booking travel via qatarairways.com. For full terms and conditions visit qatarairways.com/Flexibility

Qatar Airways is the first airline in the Middle East to begin trials of the innovative new IATA Travel Pass ‘Digital Passport’ mobile app. IATA Travel Pass ensures passengers receive up-to-date information on COVID-19 health regulations at their destination country, as well as complying with strict global data privacy regulations to enable the sharing of COVID-19 test results with airlines to verify they are eligible to undertake their journey.

A multiple award-winning airline, Qatar Airways was named ‘World’s Best Airline’ by the 2019 World Airline Awards, managed by the international air transport rating organisation Skytrax. It was also named ‘Best Airline in the Middle East’, ‘World’s Best Business Class’, and ‘Best Business Class Seat’, in recognition of its ground-breaking Business Class experience, Qsuite. Qsuite is available on flights to more than 45 destinations including Johannesburg, Frankfurt, New York and Singapore.

Qatar Airways is the only airline to have been awarded the coveted ‘Skytrax Airline of the Year’ title, which is recognised as the pinnacle of excellence in the airline industry, five times. In addition to this, Qatar Airways home and hub, Hamad International Airport (HIA) was ranked the ‘Best Airport in the Middle East’ for the sixth consecutive year and ‘Third Best Airport in the World’ by the SKYTRAX World Airport Awards 2020.