By A blustery day with plenty of cloud cover, Chongqing Airlines saw its return to Velana International Airport in Maldives with a water salute and all the pomp and circumstance The airline left this country in 2020 following the chokehold of the Covid-19 pandemic, reflecting the trend of travel in those times.
Speaking at the ceremony, Minister for Tourism Ibrahim Faisal recalled the golden era of China-tourist arrivals in Maldives back in 2019 with 284,029 and a 16.7 percent share of arrivals. He also noted how this administration of President Muizzu has now introduced a total of five new airlines within its inaugural year.
Looking at ‘the other port’, China Southern’s primarily domestic carrier (30 destinations within China) Chongqing’s Airlines, announced 17 new international destinations at the beginning of this year. China is also formerly known as the world’s largest outbound tourism market (prior to the pandemic).
Back in July 2016, co-founder and Mega Maldives Strategy VP Mifzal Ahmed highlighted in a Mihaaru op-ed, that Chinese travelers were the reason why Maldives wasn’t as hard-hit by the blows of the 2009 recession. China has always been and will remain a significant market for Maldivian tourism arrivals.
In fact, Patrick Boehler of the South China Morning Post aptly put it all the way back in 2015 that Maldives, “the Gucci handbag of holidays” as Maldives topped China’s travel wishlists.
In recent times, Maldives has prioritized language in marketing materials in order to further attract Chinese tourists and began utilizing Weibo and Wechat. The country also added WeChat pay to its repertoire in addition to the already widely-used AliPay in 2024. The first half of 2024 also saw Maldives shining at several trade shows in China and fostering relationships with tour operators and travel agents in the mainland. In fact, former MD of MMPRC Fathmath Thaufeeq had previously highlighted in an exclusive interview with China’s Global Times that Maldives anticipates a 40 percent increase in Chinese visitor arrivals this year.
So what does it take to truly catch the eye of the average traveler from China?
Travel news analyst and researcher Skift reports that as of April 2024, 62 percent of outbound travelers from China are female (majority between 18 to 29 years). London-based data company Economist Intelligence notes that high inflation rates in destination countries, as one of the reasons tourists from China might set their eyes elsewhere. While ‘impulse’ online bookings without engaging specific local tour operators have been on the rise in 2024, this automatically calls upon the need to increase a slew of flight availability. The average Chinese traveler also cleverly utilizes travel planning platforms like online travel agency catalogs CTrip and Qunar. They also increasingly collect vital tips from apps such as Douyin (similar to Tik Tok) and Xiaohongshu (China’s Instagram) to zero in on attractive destinations. In fact, recommendations from Xiaohongshu have been consistently responsible for younger travelers happily requesting certain room numbers and other details prior to their arrivals following their bookings.
Experts suggest that post-pandemic travel trends in China have largely remained domestic within the past few years due to a shift in inclination towards experiences and adventures rather than luxury. Chinese households believe domestic travel to therefore offer better value-for-money. While Maldives has plenty of adventure activities on the menu, prioritizing guest house and homestay accommodation with a slice of water sports, skydiving and good old fashioned snorkeling and diving may be the solution.
Outbound travel however is still a far cry from 2019 numbers with the latest cross border trips of 101 million only reaching 60 percent of pre-pandemic levels by the end of last year. It is estimated that outbound tourism from China will reach pre-pandemic vigor by 2025. Let us hope that Maldives is able to capture a substantial market share before then.