At the Annual General Meeting of the Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) held on 15 July 2025, Chairperson Abdulla Ghiyas delivered a powerful message underscoring the critical importance of ramping up investment in destination marketing to secure the Maldives’ standing in an increasingly competitive global tourism landscape.
Addressing industry stakeholders, Ghiyas highlighted a stark reality: while regional competitors continue to pour significant resources into promoting their destinations, the Maldives has consistently lagged behind in marketing spend for over two decades.
“When we look around the region, our competitors are allocating significantly higher budgets to promote their destinations”, Ghiyas emphasized. “In contrast, the Maldives is spending the least among all our main competitors. This is a reality we must approach with caution”.
Ghiyas warned that insufficient funding poses a serious risk to the Maldives’ hard-won reputation as a leading luxury destination. Without sustained visibility in key markets, he noted, the country risks losing ground to better-funded rivals — a setback that would have profound economic repercussions for local communities dependent on tourism revenue.
“If we fail to remain visible and competitive in the global market, we risk losing ground — and that comes at a far greater cost to our economy and our people”, he cautioned. “In the last 20 years, we haven’t spent on destination marketing the way our competition is doing”.
While the Maldives continues to enjoy strong international demand, Ghiyas’s call to action serves as a wake-up call for both public and private sector leaders to rethink long-term promotional strategies. He underscored that marketing is not merely a discretionary expense but a crucial investment necessary to protect and grow the Maldives’ tourism industry, which serves as the backbone of the national economy.
Ghiyas’s remarks come at a pivotal moment for MMPRC, which has recently undertaken major reforms aimed at modernizing its operations and delivering more impactful, performance-driven campaigns. However, he stressed that even the most innovative strategies cannot succeed without sufficient financial support to keep the Maldives at the forefront of travelers’ minds worldwide.
Concluding his address, Ghiyas urged immediate action, calling for a united effort to strengthen the Maldives’ global brand presence and ensure future resilience.
“Our story is one of unparalleled natural beauty and hospitality,” he said. “But to continue sharing that story with the world, we must be willing to invest — boldly and consistently — in telling it”.
Under Ghiyas’s leadership, MMPRC has set a clear direction: to safeguard and enhance the Maldives’ global appeal, destination marketing must move to the top of the national agenda.
