The Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC/Visit Maldives) has launched a social media marketing campaign on Weibo and WeChat for the Chinese market.
The campaign, which runs from March to May 2023, is aimed at promoting Maldives on social media following the reopening of the border with China. In addition, the campaign is being conducted to increase the attraction of Chinese tourists to travel to Maldives.
Social media is a very important medium for the Chinese market. The campaign has been successfully conducted during the lockdown to promote Maldives in the Chinese market.
45 original posts and 12 original articles will be posted on Visit Maldives’ Weibo and WeChat to promote Maldives’ tourism products, experiences and segments. A free holiday campaign will also be conducted. The campaign is expected to reach 1.4 million people in the Chinese market.
WeChat is China’s largest social media platform with 1.17 billion monthly users. Weibo is the second largest social media platform in China with 530 million monthly users. These platforms are the two most influential in China. This year, the news of China’s first direct flight to Maldives became a trending topic on Weibo. The campaign will also use the attention it received to further promote Maldives. The MMPRC has already run 17 such WeChat and Weibo campaigns targeting the Chinese market, with great success.
Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, China was the largest market for Maldivian tourism. In 2019 alone, 284,029 (16.7)% tourist arrivals to Maldives were from China.
The number of arrivals has dropped sharply due to the closure of China’s borders during the pandemic. With the reopening of borders, the first direct flight from China arrived on 18 January 2023. China has now climbed back into the top 10 source market. With 30,353 (4.4 percent) tourists as of 29 April 2023, China is now the sixth largest market this year.
This year, planned marketing activities targeting the Chinese market include an e-learning training campaign, outdoor advertising campaigns, joint promotion campaigns, familiarization trips and social media campaigns, as well as participation in fairs such as ITB China.
