Visit Maldives targets Indian travel trade at ITB India 2026 in Mumbai

The destination body is exhibiting with 17 tourism and aviation partners as it deepens trade engagement across India and South Asia

Visit Maldives Corporation is exhibiting at ITB India 2026 in Mumbai with 17 co-exhibitors from the tourism and aviation sectors.

(NEWS) MUMBAI, Maharashtra, India, 2026-Sep-02 — /Travel PR News/ — Visit Maldives Corporation is using one of South Asia’s key travel trade gatherings to reinforce its presence in the Indian market, bringing 17 tourism and aviation partners to ITB India 2026 in Mumbai for three days of meetings with buyers, travel sellers and corporate travel decision-makers.

The destination marketing organisation is exhibiting at the business-to-business travel show from 1 to 3 September at the Jio World Convention Centre. ITB India is designed around the Indian and South Asian travel markets and brings together participants from leisure tourism, MICE, corporate travel and travel technology, giving the Maldives delegation direct access to agents, tour operators, planners and other distribution partners.

According to details released by Visit Maldives, the national stand is structured around one-to-one meetings and trade engagement rather than consumer promotion alone. Destination information, promotional videos and a dedicated photo backdrop form part of the presentation, while a trade survey is being used to gather feedback on booking behaviour, travel preferences and market trends.

That intelligence-gathering element is significant for a destination that continues to treat India as a strategically important source market. Visit Maldives recorded 131,625 arrivals from India in 2025 and 74,173 arrivals by 10 August 2026. The figures show why maintaining visibility with Indian sellers remains an important part of the Maldives’ wider market-development strategy, even as competition for outbound travellers intensifies across the region.

The Mumbai appearance also builds on a broader programme of India-facing trade activity. Earlier in 2026, Visit Maldives participated in SATTE in New Delhi, where it similarly combined destination promotion with buyer meetings and market feedback. The organisation has also supported multi-city trade engagement in western India and previously launched the “From Tiranga to Turquoise” campaign to strengthen demand and tourism links between the two countries.

Current and planned activities cited by Visit Maldives include joint marketing with leading tour operators, a programme with IndiGo, media and influencer familiarisation trips, and collaboration with the High Commission of the Republic of Maldives in India. A separate 2026 tourism update from the destination body also identified IndiGo among the travel and aviation partners involved in sustaining visibility across key markets.

For Maldivian resorts, airlines and tourism businesses attending alongside the national tourism body, ITB India provides a practical route into an increasingly segmented Indian outbound market. The opportunity extends beyond traditional leisure holidays to corporate travel, meetings and incentive business, areas that are explicitly represented within the show’s buyer profile.

The timing also places the Maldives in front of Indian travel partners ahead of the year-end and winter booking periods, when short-haul international beach destinations compete heavily for travellers from major Indian cities. Rather than relying solely on destination advertising, Visit Maldives is combining trade relationships, airline partnerships and market research to sharpen how the country is sold through the regional distribution network.

With its 17 co-exhibitors, the ITB India presence therefore serves as both a sales platform and a listening exercise: an opportunity to keep the Maldives visible to Indian and South Asian buyers while collecting first-hand insight into how traveller expectations and booking patterns are changing.