International Maldives Travel Market (IMTM) 2020 was held on November 16 to 17 this year – the first virtual B2B exhibition for the travel and tourism industry in the Maldives.
The fair took place on IMTMair, a brand-new platform, allowing all the participants of the event to interact and connect. International buyers (Tour Operators, Travel Agents, Destination Management Companies and PR Companies) and local accommodation providers (Resorts, Hotels, Guesthouses, Liveaboards, Dive Centres, Local Tour Operators and Travel Agents) used this platform to hold meetings with each other, to conduct business. IMTMair provided a variety of useful features for convenience and ease in navigation, as well as for promotions of each business. Each participating company was provided with a virtual booth to customize, upload welcome videos, add products, brochures, and contact details to advertise their business to any interested parties. Due to the overall positive feedback, the organisers of IMTM virtual platform, IMTMair, extended access to the platform for two more days, November 18 to 19, for participants of the IMTM 2020 virtual fair. The main feature of the platform was the Exhibition Hall, which allowed interaction between participants. Each company was provided with a virtual table, where any interested parties could sit to join the conversation, through chat, video or audio call. Speed Networking allowed attendees to engage in friendly networking discussions. Multiple seminars were also held at the IMTM 2020 virtual fair. The Digital Media Partner of IMTM 2020, Dhiraagu, provided a briefing on their products for assistance in hospitality with Digital Solutions for Businesses in the Hospitality Industry. On the second day of the event, a webinar on Fostering Rural Tourism Development was held with experts in the field of rural tourism development from China, Malaysia, Bhutan, and the Maldives. The webinar allowed each speaker from the respective countries to share and exchange views and knowledge on a variety of methods adopted and experienced in their countries. The Advisor on Asia tourism and former director for Asia and the Pacific of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), Xu Jing, was the moderator for the webinar session. Some of the speakers included the Chair of Maldives PATA Chapter, Abdulla Ghiyas; the Vice President of Guesthouse Association of the Maldives (GAM), Sameeu Imad; the former Secretary-General of the Ministry of Tourism and Culture of Malaysia, Tan Sri Dr. ONG Hong Peng; the Assistant Director of Monitoring Centre for Sustainable Tourism Observatories, Sun Yat-sen University, China, Ms. Jiang Jiawei; and the head of Tourism Promotion Division, Tourism Council of Bhutan, Damcho Rinzin.