Qatar Airways and Visit Maldives have agreed on a strategic partnership to further grow international tourism to the tropical island destination. The agreement brings together an airline and destination that have been leaders throughout the pandemic in providing safe, reliable and luxurious travel experiences despite the many challenges.
According to Qatar Airways, the strategic partnership will see the two organisations collaborate on marketing activities in several markets around the world to further grow international visitor numbers to the Maldives, maximising the opportunities provided by Qatar Airways’ extensive global network of over 140 destinations.
Less than a year after being the first international airline to resume services to the Maldives in July 2020 with daily flights, Qatar Airways expanded operations to four daily on 1 July 2021. Passengers travelling to the Maldives can enjoy the airline’s renowned 5-star service on board a mix of the airline’s state-of-the-art Airbus A320 and Boeing 777 aircraft.
The Maldives has always been a strategically important destination in our network, as demonstrated by our airline being the first to resume international services and our rapid expansion of flights from daily to four daily in less than 12 months. This partnership with Visit Maldives is a natural next step in achieving both of our organisations’ long term objectives for this route and we look forward to working closely with Visit Maldives to help further grow international tourism to the Maldives.
Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, His Excellency Mr Akbar Al Baker
Since reopening the borders for international travellers on 15th July 2020, the Maldives has been hailed as a major tourism success story amidst the pandemic. With an arrival figure of almost one million travellers, the Maldivian tourism industry is on the path to achieving pre-pandemic arrival figures.
Qatar Airways was there to reopen the Maldives borders and restart tourism. The touchdown of Qatar Airways flight QR672 from Doha to Male on 15th July 2020, with 129 passengers was a new beginning for the airline as well as the Maldives. Since then the presence and frequency of flights has been increasing. Being amongst the top three passenger carriers to the Maldives, we appreciate the support and engagement of Qatar Airways in the Maldives tourism recovery.
With the addition of these new frequencies to Maldives, Qatar Airways is sending a strong message to the world, a commitment, that when the borders and gates open they will be there. We are glad they are here in the Maldives. Thank you Qatar Airways for being an important partner of the Tourism Success Story of Maldives.
Maldives’ Minister of Tourism, Hon. Dr. Abdulla Mausoom.
Travellers from the Middle East region were among the leading arrivals to the Maldives post the lockdown period and continue to grow stronger day by day.
The success of the Maldivian tourism industry can be attributed to the blessings of the natural socially-distanced geography of the Maldives and the immense effort undertaken by all relevant industries in the Maldives.
In addition to that, stringent measures are undertaken at every step of the process to ensure the utmost safety and wellbeing of travellers, tourism industry employees, and the local community.
Feature image by Qatar Airways
