The Maldives was the sole South Asian country not have seen an increase in tourist arrivals in the first two months of the year, according to the Maldives Association of Tourism Industry (MATI).
In a statement, MATI said that all other South Asian countries that published tourism statistics had recorded significant increases, with India at the top of the list with an increase of 40,000 tourists in Jan-Feb.
Sri Lanka experienced 27 percent growth in tourist arrivals. Tourist arrivals to the Maldives dropped by five percent during the same period.
According to Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) statistics, Asia-Pacific is the fastest growing tourist region in the world, with South East Asia showing the highest increases, closely followed by South Asia.
The Maldives’ number one tourism market – China – declined substantially in February and March after charter flights were cancelled due to political turmoil.
The market recovered in April with the restoration of these flights, with Chinese arrivals showing a 3.5 percent increase compared to the same period last year, after a massive 34.8 percent decline  in February. The Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) has predicted substantial growth in June-July.
However the Italian and UK markets reported substantial declines in April, with arrivals plunging 27 percent and 20 percent respectively compared to April 2011. Â These losses were partially offset by an increase in German, Swiss and Russian arrivals.
Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that the PATA statistics applied to arrivals so far this year. The PATA figures were for the first two months of the year. Minivan News apologises for any confusion caused.
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SIM is twisting the figures here.
Sim you better get out from MATI and then go with the dictator Anni and then try to ruin our tourism.
You guys need to understand that Anni and his associates are continuously carrying out the boycott campaign around the globe and for sure that is having a negative impact on tourist sector.
To turkish anyone image is much easier than building a good image and a reputation. So to kill the tourism sector in Maldives is much more easier than building the tourism sector.
Anni and his gangs should know that without tourism they also can not rule this nation and they can not earn money to run the government through farming.
The European numbers pretty much agree with the economic turmoil that's shaking Europe right now. Both the UK and Italy are facing severe and long term economic decline partly as a result of the woes of the Euro and partly due to long term structural problems in their respective economies.
The Chinese and Russians have so far been insulated from what's going on in the rest of the world. China won't remain like that, since the Chinese economy is heavily dependent on expanding economies in the West, particularly Europe.
Conclusion: the Chinese market cannot be relied upon as a sustainable provider of tourists to the Maldives' luxurious market.
goddamn baghees!! elections now!!
Thank you Anni, thank you MDP. You are real patriots!
I suggest those people who are critical of MDP for the decline in tourism think again. They seem to think that holiday makers are clueless and will buy any propaganda that the coup government is prepared to dish out. Believe it or not, MDP does not have to do much at all to convince large numbers of people overseas that something is very wrong in the Maldives. I find it interesting that the supporters of the regime seem to think that people overseas do not have the ability to make moral judgements. The regime may spend thousands to whitewash their image, but large numbers of visitors to the Maldives, or any other destination for that matter, make clear ethical decisons about how they spend their money and where they want to relax on their holidays. MDP's fault? I don't think so.
Anni is not at fault here. He proposed various schemes to expand Maldives tourism but your beloved coalition always opposed them.
All this government does is say that we're going to get a record one million tourist arrivals this year, but they never have any realistic plans that would help Maldivian tourism grow, like allowing the sale of alcohol for tourists in inhabited islands
Minivannews has done some damage to the tourism industry. Consider their sponsoring of this Dhivehi Hanguraama fellow. A munaafiq working alongside Minivannews to tarnish the image of Islam and the Maldives. Here are some translated webpages by foreign tourist websites complaining about Dhivehi Hanguraama's posts:
http://translate.google.co.uk/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=http://www.islam-deutschland.info/forum/viewtopic.php%3Fp%3D224685%26sid%3Dc501245e4b6e7e548782321ac29f823b&ei=22O-T8i7MqaR0AW_8rQV&sa=X&oi=translate&ct=result&resnum=8&ved=0CHkQ7gEwBw&prev=/search%3Fq%3DDhivehi%2BHanguraama%2Boogah-boogah%2Bfornicate%26hl%3Den%26biw%3D1280%26bih%3D929%26prmd%3Dimvns
And
http://translate.google.co.uk/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=http://forum.malediven.at/print.php%3Fthreadid%3D6988%26page%3D1%26sid%3D6838cdf04c31f9feeacbe1b56f4a5450&ei=22O-T8i7MqaR0AW_8rQV&sa=X&oi=translate&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CHQQ7gEwBg&prev=/search%3Fq%3DDhivehi%2BHanguraama%2Boogah-boogah%2Bfornicate%26hl%3Den%26biw%3D1280%26bih%3D929%26prmd%3Dimvns
Maldives is a fad for the Chinese.
They do not enjoy the sun, nor do they enjoy the sea. They only enjoy fishing and the scenic beauty. It's only a matter of time they realize it is not worth thousands of hard earned dollars, just to takes some pic back home.
The tourism goose will soon be slaughtered by our politicians. Can't say its a bad thing. Maybe some of our arrogant citizens might actually work for a living (including the fat cat oligarchs) instead of relying on the hardworking tourism sector.
Mashallah. No good comes out of haraam transactions. Allah will destroy this industry.
This new regime have been hypocritical in their preaching and the way they came to power would really harm any big brand, even likes Apple or Facebook. Big business is very image sensitive.
Also, 1 million is a tiny increase year on year so there is no doubt that tourism has missed an opportunity to really flourish.
Dear Musliha Hassan, you got only part of the story. It refers to a specific period ie the first two months of the year. Better check your facts carefully when you quote from written reports. Or your editors get into difficulties.
Yes. Tourists are not idiots. To paraphrase Dylan, "there's something happening here, but you don't know what it is, do you Mr Mode?"
Anni and Sim cannot be blamed for the failure of the tourism industry. When you have kindergarden boys running the Tourism Ministry and the MMPRC at a time of economic crisis in our major markets, what do you expect? Hint to Waheed and Maumoon: call an early election and put your poor boys out of their misery.
As a European who has travelled to the Maldives 22 times in the last 15 years, it has nothing to do with the politics. The majority of tourists are unaware of the current difficulties.
It has everything to do with the economy and the fact that the Maldives are pricing themselves out of the market so only the "top end tourists" can afford to visit. We have seen a 40% price rise compared to 2 years ago. Europeans are simply opting for cheaper vacations elsewhere in the world. It has to be value for money and at current rates it is simply unaffordable.
How one can be only so stupid to believe, that 'Anni' is to blame for the decline of the tourism! Only the putsch is to blame for it!
SIM Ibrahim Mohamed being the husband of Anni's tourism minister got two islands to put up hotels. (yes,corruption).
Now becoz of drop in tourists he is finding difficult to finance the hotels. Shame.
I agree with Mohamed Ali Jinah- and to slightly misquote Shakespeare - 'There is something rotten in the state of Maldives!'
Anni is the one who had put the " nutshell heads" in the tourism and MMPRC.
Simon hawking , has no experience in the field but he was given the responsibility of promoting " Maldives " and the guy even does not have a formal educational qualification.
Anni did not have any solid economic policy and even he had kept his puppets in his cabinet who will say yes to what ever Anni says. Those puppets were willing to go any where to please the dictator.
I am still a member of MDP and i was quite active in the party until i realized the dictator hidden agenda.
The dictator had ruin this country and we will nerve be able to come out from this problem for next few years.
James, these matters are for the Anti-corruption Commission to decide.Or the courts. You dont accuse and slander people without any proof. You are just jealous !
@James
These islands were approved for tourism by the National Plannig Council where I understand people from the civic society and community are alao represented. The President chairs the Council.
How does President Nasheed get blamed for a decision by the National Planning Council?
National Plannina council consist of only Anni puppets and whole purpose of forming that council was to give few Islands to people like Sauna. There was no one from civil society and only MDP thugs were there. Please go and check who was there in the council and see it yourself .
There were total of some Islands given and contracts signed but CRC component even not started. But those Island were even sold to third party and MDP thugs got the money .
There were over 400 Islands so called " letter of acceptance" given and out of this only again handful Islands were given letter of award and those were again accidentally to MDP members
The whole objective of this exercise was to raise some funds for hard core MDP members and thier things and to twist the story and divert the public attention, they issue the letter of acceptance to large number of people. Just like those papers companies the Dictator formed to service to his thugs.
Dictator should get blamed since he is the Chairman of the council and he is the one who made the decision not the members
Sorry, the Maldives had (and still has) only one big dictator: Maumoon Abdul Gayoom and under Gayoom there were already sauna's on unites few luxus resorts, but the most were closed again since the climate is too hot for a sauna on the Maldives.
Agree with Naxalite. Minivan news should really stop publishing comments from people who are not addressing the real issues in the article and those who do not know how to respect different cultures and religions. Be more professional Minivan news and set some standards on the comments that will be published.
Gerry, you are wrong we have two dictators and Gayyoom and Anni both are equally bad.
" I am not referring to sauna and I am referring to " Sauna" and these are two different.
I know people like you will not be able to digest anything against your spiritual leader. But i guess we have to respect that and digest the difference in opinion. Thank you
Mode,Whether anni was good or not, you people took power by force. You cant change that fact. You baagees will face a court of justice sooner than you think. God moves in mysterious ways. The csr programme was one of the most ceative policies in recent years by any govt. How else do you finance utility projects on inhabited islands when the treasury is broke and the state cannot take any loans? Ask the mdp the state of govt finances when they assumed office. Anni was only doing the best for the people under very difficult circumstances.
Zawahiri,
There is nothing to ask from MDP and i am still a member of MDP.
When Gayyoom was removed, the total debt of the country was 390 million dollars and Anni managed to drag it into deeper making USD 925 million as a country debt in three years. These figures speaks itself and check the records yourself before open your mouth.
U tell me anything good done with the utilities companies other than providing jobs for activists there by dragging the services that were meant provide in deeper trouble.
Maldives is getting too expensive! As a local tour operator, I know the room rates increasing year by year. I was going through resort contracts for the next winter season and there is a price hike in almost all resorts. This worrying! If we want to stay competitive in the region, we need to drop our prices and provide affordable options for travelers. With the current economic uncertainty in Europe, I think its vital we step up now.
The Maldives is pricing itself out of the UK market. Not only are the prices increasing at an alarming rate the standard of service is declining in the resorts. I cannot see the logic in continually increasing prices while giving poor service. It is a case of providing less for more. I have travelled to the Maldives over 20 times in the last 10 years so can speak from experience. Your "sand bagged" beaches and poor service are not going to save your tourism industry. I will never return to the Maldives again.
jj, we were referring only to the first two months of the year. Your writer missed that little but important fact. Please make a correction in your headline. Man,i am being crucified here. Thanks. sim
Mode, if anni had run up a debt of a billion dollars that would have been on providing services to the Maldivian people and payments to Maldivian families. Anni would have plans in place to recover that debt. He would never have taken anything for himself or for his family. That's the difference between anni and the rest.