Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) has showcased Maldives at IFTM Top Resa, the largest trade fair held in Paris, France. The four-day trade fair will be from September 25 to 28. The Maldives delegation including 34 industry partners is headed by acting Managing Director of MMPRC Haris Mohamed.
The Maldives stand is located at the Pavilion 7 with other Asia Pacific countries with a colourful branding of the destination. Maldives delegation will be meeting with industry professionals during the fair to further develop and strengthen the presence of the destination within the French market, according to MMPRC. In this regard, meetings will be held with airlines, major tour operators travel trade partners to pursue ways in which French arrivals to Maldives could be amplified for the coming years.
2018 will mark the 40th edition of IFTM Top Resa. This year the show will celebrate its 40th anniversary with a new corporate identity. The show was first established in 1979 targeting the leisure industry itself. However, later in 2008 it became a multi-sector show covering all types of travel: leisure, business, MICE and groups. Now IFTM TOP RESA is one of the well knows trade fair of the Industry.
The French market is among the top markets to Maldives. In 2017, a total of 42,365 tourist arrivals were recorded from France which is an increase of 4.6% compared to 2016. As of July 2018, 32,403 French tourists visited Maldives, which is an increase of 23.9% compared to the same period in 2017.