People from all over the place flocked to one location. Thousands of people of different races and creeds. All of these people came to attend one of the largest annual travel fairs in the world, the World Travel Market.
At the 37th World Travel Market held this year in London, 182 countries from all around the world took part in this fair to advertise the tourism opportunities in their countries. There were Maldivian stalls in two out of the three halls where the fair took place, the Asia/Pacific hall and the Indian Ocean hall. The most active hall appeared to be the Indian Ocean hall.
The Maldivian stand was located next to the Indian stall in this hall. The Indian stand had lots of effort put into it. India, which acted as the host this year, had a large stall but this failed to cast a shadow on the Maldivian stall.
The Maldivian stand at the WTM was acclaimed this year. While there were many visitors to the stand, many business transactions took place as well. There was hardly any breathing space in the Maldivian stand from 10:00 AM in the morning to 7:00 PM at night. It would not be an exaggeration to say that there was not a single time the stand was not crowded.
"The amount of visitors and customers to our stands are relatively higher when compared to other stands in the fair, the Maldivian stand was one of the busiest in the fair," one of the leading members of the Maldivian Tourism Industry, Hussein Afeef said.
The Maldivian stand was just as busy as Afeef stated. Other stands appeared emptying at times but the Maldivian stand only seemed to grow much more crowded. Middle Eastern and European stands did not receive the same appreciation received by the Asian stalls. The Maldivian stand had shone brightly in the fair a time where the Maldivian condition is somewhat changed.
The Maldives has left the Commonwealth. Rumors have been circulating that the relations between Maldives and the UK has suffered because of this. There were speculations that the English tourist market for the Maldives will also go down as a result, but this failed to happen as well.
"Tourists do not look to see whether the Maldives is a member of the Commonwealth or not, they look at the peacefulness and beauty of the Maldives," the Maldivian ambassador to England Ahmed Shiyan said.
Shiyan's statements have received the stamp of approval at this fair. This fair has revealed that leaving the Commonwealth had no effect on the trust English investors have for the Maldives.
This fair has proved that the allegations against Maldives saying it was haven for terrorists and the campaign to boycott Maldivian tourism has failed. This is due to the effort of Maldivian Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC), the Tourism Ministry and other entities working to promote Maldivian tourism.
"We are witnessing the results of our hard work and labor. We will remain working to promote Maldivian tourism even more. No matter the setbacks we face, we will promote the Maldives and work to get a revenue in to the country and will work to improve the economy," Ambassador Shiyan said.
While Maldivian stands in this fair received such interest, the Maldivian guesthouses and resorts and travel agents all had received many business deals throughout this fair. A total of 66 companies took part in this fair.
"The Maldivian companies that participated in this fair had many business transactions take place, we hope that this fair yields even more deals for the businesses," Deputy Managing Director for MMPRC Fathimath Rahil said, " This fair is one where travel agents will meet face to face, this fair is a good opportunity for newcomers to the industry to meet veterans of the field."
Other things were also made clear in the fair, such as the beauty of the Maldivian stalls. The stands perfectly portrayed the serenity and exceptional beauty of the Maldives. This stand might well be the most complete Maldivian stand to be included in a fair. All the visitors to the two storey stand kept commenting on its beauty.
Maldives has seen many benefits from taking part in this fair. The many allegations against the Maldives have been silenced. It has been made clear that the trust these investors have for Maldives is not lost yet. These things have not seemed to falter due to the negative campaign.
