MMPRC launches marketing campaign on Weibo and WeChat

Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC/Visit Maldives) has launched a social media marketing campaign for the Chinese market on Weibo and WeChat.

The campaign is held from March-May.

MMPRC described it as a “significant campaign”, especially after the reopening of borders, given the importance of social media platforms to the Chinese market. 

The campaign is designed to maintain destination visibility and strengthen market presence.

According to MMPRC, the latest campaign includes 45 original posts and 12 original articles on the Visit Maldives accounts for Weibo and WeChat promoting the products, experiences, and segments of the Maldives.

A campaign will also be conducted to give away a free holiday to the Maldives to lucky winners.

The campaign is expected to reach 1.4 million users.

WeChat and Weibo are the largest and second largest social media platforms, with 1.17 billion monthly active users and 530 million monthly active users, respectively. WeChat and Weibo dominate the social media landscape in China and are the go-to platform for the Chinese market.

The arrival of the first Chinese flight to the Maldives was a trending topic on Weibo. MMPRC believes the campaign provides the opportunity to further leverage the trend on travelling to the Maldives.

MMPRC has conducted 17 similar WeChat and Weibo campaigns targeted at the Chinese market in the past.

The Chinese market consistently topped the arrival charts to the Maldives prior to 2020, when China closed for approximately three years due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

In 2019, China was the top source market with 284,029 arrivals – making for 16.7 percent of the market share. The arrival figure fell dramatically during the pandemic as Chinese borders were closed for international leisure travel.

However, since the arrival of the first direct flight from China on January 18, China has swiftly risen to the 6th top source market spot, with 30,353 arrivals, as of April 29.

Marketing activities planned by MMPRC for 2023 include e-learning campaigns, outdoor campaigns, joint-promotion campaigns, familiarization trips, social media campaigns and participating in fairs such as ITB China.