More than 100 guesthouses have already registered to attend the second edition of Guesthouses Maldives Conference, organisers Maldives Getaways announced Saturday.
In a statement, the local PR firm said confirmed attendees include properties in guesthouse dependent islands as well as upcoming guesthouses of all sizes and styles. They will have the opportunity to network with over 50 local and international travel agents that are solely focused on the budget travel market, it added.
According to Maldives Getaways, registration is open online till August 31, with participation limited to 200 guesthouses. Once the 200 slots are filled, registration will be closed automatically, it said.
“Maldives Getaways urge guesthouses to register at the earliest possible on the Guesthouses Maldives website,” the statement read.
As an incentive, organisers are offering free listing on their Guesthouses Maldives magazine, which is published in English. A total of 5,000 copies of the annual magazine are printed and freely distributed to all interested parties across the globe, including suppliers, travel agents and other businesses.
Maldives, known world over for its upmarket tourism industry, has resorts in the hundreds spread across the archipelago. The industry has in recent years expanded to introduce more affordable segments, including guesthouses and liveaboards. Some 330 guesthouses have started operations over the past five years as the number of travellers that choose to stay in guesthouses rise.
The annual Guesthouses Maldives Conference is aimed at bringing together owners and key stakeholders from the guesthouses and travel industry to discuss and share ideas on the challenges as well as the opportunities in the industry. Through the conference, the organisers target to find ways to bring in 500,000 tourists to guesthouses across the Maldives by the year 2020.
The first edition of the conference, which was held in Male in September 2016, was attended by over 160 guesthouse operators, local and international travel agents, tour operators, online travel agents (OTAs), airlines, government agencies and business leaders.