World Travellers Prefer Maldives for post-Coronavirus Getaway

Maldives on top of Gulf travellers’ mind for post-pandemic travel

11 June, 2020

Leading outbound travel agencies in Gulf countries say demand for outbound travel from the region will likely return from the third quarter of the year, with most travellers making long-haul international travel plans choosing the Maldives for a tropical getaway.

A survey conducted by AVIAREPS of 94 leading outbound travel agencies from Gulf countries shows that demand for outbound travel from the region is expected to return from August or September, with a majority of travel agencies to begin promoting their travel offerings from July through to September.

Most promotional offerings will take the form of full travel packages that include airfare, accommodation and tour components, with intra-Middle East packages to be most popular, followed by packages for travel to South East Asia, Indian Ocean destinations like the Maldives, and Europe.

The survey, first conducted in early May, is being conducted on a monthly basis in order to monitor travel agent sentiment as outbound travel agencies and destinations prepare for a recovery and return to business while grappling with the Covid-19 pandemic and its impact on international travel.

Respondents include 24 agencies form Saudi Arabia, 21 from the United Arab Emirates, 21 from Bahrain, 11 from Qatar, 10 from Kuwait and seven from Oman.

Sixty per cent of the respondents expect a return to outbound travel from August and September, but 14 per cent do not see a return until 2021.

Following this, 65 per cent of travel agents will begin their outreach to clients with promotions from July through to September. Thirteen per cent say they will commence client engagement as early as June.

A return to international travel demand in the summer is conditional on flights becoming available and destinations opening up their borders to visitors.

Strong but cautious demand is expected not only from pent up demand following Covid-19 lockdowns, but also resulting from clients wishing to venture outside while escaping the heat of a Middle Eastern summer.

The propensity for travellers from the Gulf to book international travel with relatively short led-booking times also encourages travel agents to expect international travel demand to return quickly once it is safe to do so. Travel to visit family and friends overseas is also expected to be another incentive for many to venture overseas as soon as they can.

Almost all (97 per cent) of respondents mentioned that full serviced offerings that include flights, accommodation, land arrangements (including car hire) and tours, will be part of their promotional line up. Seventy-five per cent will provide offerings that combine flights and accommodation, and only 27 per cent will promote accommodation only deals.

When asked what percentage of total outbound demand agents believe will go to which region, Intra-Middle East travel ranked the highest at 17 per cent, followed by South East Asia at 14 per cent, the Indian Ocean destinations of Maldives, Mauritius and Seychelles at 12 per cent, and Europe at 11 per cent.

Looking at individual destinations that Gulf agents will actively promote or expect demand for, the top 10 destinations in order of perceived popularity are:

1. Maldives
2. Azerbaijan
3. Turkey
4. Georgia
5. Austria
6. The UAE.
7. Australia
8. Germany
9. Malaysia
10. Sri Lanka.

Another interesting finding of the survey was that the level of pre-booked cancellations was relatively low for the remaining months of the year, suggesting that many in the Gulf who had pre-booked international travel prior to May were taking a ‘wait and see’ approach prior to cancelling.

“The world with regards to the possibilities of international travel is changing daily. Nevertheless, it is necessary to follow market sentiment during this period so that destinations, airlines, hotels, tour operators and equally importantly our outbound travel agent partners throughout the region can plan and strategise for the speediest of recoveries,” Glenn Johnston, Vice President Middle East and Global Public Affairs at AVIAREPS, was quoted in a statement, as saying.

“Encouragingly, despite the current difficulties and disruptions to life and business as we knew it, the survey results do reflect the Middle East’s penchant for an overall view of optimism and action, which I think all of us can take solace in and strength from as we all plan for recovery in the months ahead.”

The Maldives is preparing to reopen its borders to visitors in July.

Maldives Tops The Most Searched Travel Spots By Brits

07 June, 2020

Maldives is the most popular searched destinations for a holiday by Brits. This was revealed by TravelSupermarket’s data between May 16 and 30.

The top ten most-searched-for places by Britons in the past fortnight for a holiday to depart between July 1 and October 30, 2020, are Las Vegas (first), Tenerife (second), the Maldives (third), the Costa Blanca (fourth), Dubai (fifth), Orlando (sixth), Canary Islands (seventh), Majorca (eighth), Amsterdam (ninth) and Crete (10th).

Maldives was also ranked in fourth place of most popular countries to search for a holiday after lockdown, any date departure.

Various other online surveys have further landed Maldives on top searches list of Indian luxury travelers, Chinese, US travelers and Singaporeans during the pandemic.

US Travellers choose Maldives for post-Coronavirus Vacation

02 June, 2020

A holiday in the Maldives appears to be on top of the mind of travellers in the United States. They received 18,100 searches during the stay-at-home order as a result of COVID-19. This was revealed by InsureMyTrip who reviewed data using Google search trends.

The Maldivian archipelago of over 1,000 islands is popular for its remoteness, tranquil beaches and luxury properties. The state with the highest contribution of searches for Maldives is California, followed by Georgia, New York and Pennsylvania. The destination is planning to reopen July 1.

The full list is as follows:

1. Maldives (18,100)
2. Greece (14,800)
3. Fiji (9,900)
4. Costa Rica (9,900)
5. Bahamas (8,100)
6. Mexico (6,600)
7. Jamaica (6,600)
8. Aruba (6,600)
9. Thailand (5,400)
10. Italy (4,400)

“Flights to Maldives” and “trips to Maldives” was also among the most Googled phrases during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In addition to this UK’s leading celebrity news site Hello Magazine revealed that Maldives is among the 8 travel destinations celebrities will likely to book post lockdown.

67% Chinese Travelers Think The Maldives Is Safest Destination

02 June, 2020

67% of Chinese travelers have said that Maldives is the safest destination, while 90% agreed that they would travel to Maldives. This was revealed by a new survey of 1,100 qualified Chinese travelers in first tier cities by hospitality consulting group C9 Hotelworks and Delivering Asia Communications focusing on travel sentiment to the Maldives.

“Travel safety is a key post-crisis factor for all overseas travelers including Chinese,” commenting on the report findings C9’s Managing Director Bill Barnett said. “What is interesting from the China responses was that 67% of those surveyed considered the Maldives to be a safer holiday choice compared to other destinations. While a lingering ‘fear factor’ is a COVID-19 consequence, the country is likely to be seen as a safe haven given its inherent island isolation.”

The majority of the respondents went with beach villa for accommodation types while 4 star resorts was most voted as the type of hotel stay.

The data also saw 75% of respondents prefer independent travel to Maldives versus being part of a group. 38% wanted to book hotels and flights separately.

A rising tide of consumers identified direct or social media channels to book a Maldives holiday with Fliggy, WeChat and hotel websites accounting for over a third of the expected share demand.

China is the largest source market for Maldives tourism. Chinese market maintained its position as the top contributor to Maldives tourism with market share of 16.7% (284,029) in 2019.

The Maldives Among Most-Loved Travel Destination by Singaporeans

02 June, 2020

Aspiring Singaporean travellers are showing renewed optimism for travel, with the Maldives amongst their favourite destinations for regional trips, Expedia revealed.

Singaporeans are searching for staycation options in the near term, with an eye on overseas Asian destinations for their year-end travels, Expedia data showed.

While they are looking to travel from October to December 2020, the top destinations searched for that period includes Tokyo, Taipei, Bangkok, Seoul, the Maldives, Bali, Phuket, Osaka, Hokkaido, and Hong Kong, the data said.

Come 2021, Singaporeans seem to display renewed optimism for travel to resume normalcy in the new year. Top travel destinations for check-in dates between January to February 2021 are Tokyo, the Maldives, Bangkok, Niseko, Seoul, Bali, Taipei, Johor, Sapporo, and Okinawa.

Maldives was also among the most searched for, according to Google for topics, “flights to Maldives” and “trips to Maldives” during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In addition to this UK’s leading celebrity news site Hello Magazine revealed that Maldives is among the 8 travel destinations celebrities will likely to book post lockdown.