I am leaving Tokyo after some business meetings and attending JATA World Congress. As usual the Maldives Tourism Promotion Board together with some industry colleagues were around. But this time I did not see the usual vibe in the little stand we usually have to showcase our beautiful destination.

One noticeable change – the delegate from MTPB was just one, and I also heard that this year they have decided to skip the usual Maldives Evening. I take this as a temporary change due to budget restrains or perhaps the Tourism authorities are more strategic in their approach making sure real value on the investment.

Japan market is not a significantly huge market to Maldives in terms of visitor arrivals but definitely not a market we should take lightly or consider secondary. I see Japan as a potential market for growth with the right approach from the industry. I also see Japan as a good market to develop in Maldives as we offer a lot of things that Japanese want to explore when they travel to other countries.

Tahiti operates somewhat similar to Maldives in terms of marketing their destination but takes Japan market very serious and competes head to head with Maldives in the market. I hope we will change our mind-set soon and try to keep a healthy balance in visitor arrivals, maintaining fair share from key markets so we don’t get bankrupt as an industry, when a famous bank goes into administration in a European country.