Bank of Maldives (BML) and American Express have announced a partnership to promote the Maldives as a leading international tourist destination.
The “Experience Maldives” campaign was launched by tourism minister Moosa Zameer at a ceremony held at Hotel Jen in capital Male Tuesday evening.
In a statement, BML said under the campaign, which is endorsed by the tourism ministry and the Maldives Association of Tourism Industry (MATI), the Maldives will be promoted internationally to American Express’s global network of clients. Over 20 resorts have announced their participation in the campaign and they will make available a number of attractive offers to encourage tourists to consider the Maldives as their preferred holiday destination, it added.
BML CEO and Managing Director Andrew Healy commented, “We are delighted to partner with American Express on this major new destination marketing campaign. This is an important initiative for the country and it will promote Maldives to travellers from across the globe. We are grateful for the strong personal support extended by minister Zameer, and we will continue to work with the Ministry of Tourism, MATI and other stakeholders to support the industry.”
Manoj Adlakha, Senior Vice President and CEO of American Express Banking Corp. said, “This campaign will raise Maldives’ profile among the premier clientele of American Express around the world. It demonstrates our commitment to support our merchant base in Maldives and we are confident bringing more American Express cardholders to the country will deliver significant economic benefits. We are delighted to work with the Ministry of Tourism, MATI and Bank of Maldives to do our part to raise Maldives’ international profile.”
The destination marketing campaign by the Maldives’ largest bank and American Express comes weeks after American Express Travel revealed that the Maldives has topped the list of hot summer destinations this year as bookings have seen a staggering 117 percent increase.
Although the Maldives is an all-year round destination, the high season falls between December and March when its winter in Europe. Resorts in the Maldives enjoy occupancy levels of over 80 percent during this period.
Despite being a traditionally slow season for the Maldives tourism industry, summer is off to a good start this year, as arrivals to the Maldives saw a double digit increase in April. Official figures show that a total of 119,774 tourists visited the Maldives in April — a 15.7 percent increase over the 103,493 tourists in April 2016.