Tag: resort

Battle for the brand: Are the “hard days” over for Maldives tourism?

As the Maldives looks to boost tourism arrivals following negative international coverage of the country’s political unrest this year, one leading branding consultant has said destinations looking to overcome bad headlines rarely find quick fix solutions to improve their image.

Following the controversial transfer of power that brought President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan to office on February 7, negative headlines regarding the political situation and violent clashes between civilians and security forces were deemed as having an adverse affect on tourism in the Maldives.

However, tourism authorities this week talked optimistically of the prospects for growth in the industry following several months of uncertainty that it said impacted growth – predicting a resurgence in international visitors towards 2013.

Earlier this week, Deputy Minister for Tourism, Arts and Culture Mohamed Maleeh Jamal claimed “the hard days” were over for the Maldives tourism industry, after a Commonwealth-backed report last week rejected accusations that the present government came to power illegally.

Former President Mohamed Nasheed and the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) have continued to allege that they were removed from office in a “coup detat”, claiming the Commission of National Inquiry (CNI) failed to include key witness statements and evidence in its findings.

Amidst the uncertainty since February’s power transfer, tourism authorities in the country have pursued a strategy of collaboration with the country’s private sector to try and strengthen arrival numbers to the country. This focus included signing a US$250,000 (Rf3.8million) advertising deal to promote the country’s tourism industry on the BBC through sponsorship of its weather services.

In April, the Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) confirmed the appointment of New-York based public relations agency Ruder Finn to “oversee the overall media coordination and achievement of PR related solution for destination Maldives.”

However Peter Mathews, founder and chief Executive Officer of UK-based branding consultancy Nucleus, claimed a quick fix solution to changing perceptions of a destination on the back of negative international headlines was unlikely.

Mathews took the examples of Sri Lanka and Bahrain as countries that had experienced difficulties attracting tourists on the back of unfavourable headlines relating to reports of political uncertainty or human rights abuses.

“Both of these destinations have had issues with branding.  Branding alone is not an instant solution for a country’s reputation,” he told Minivan News. “If you are not transparent about issues, they will still be there for tourists to see once you scratch below the surface of a destination.”

With the growing prominence of social media and video sharing services like Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, Mathews claimed it was becoming increasingly difficult to move on from negative headlines without addressing the key social or political issues.

“We now live in a digital world of instant updates and information, there is nowhere to hide,” he said.

“Ultimately, the best way to re-brand in the medium to long-term is for a destination to try and ensure transparency and avoiding contradictions.”

According to Mathews, a single negative headline about a destination required number of positive stories in order for it to overcome any detrimental impacts to a country’s reputation.

“It can take a while these days for unfavourable headlines to slip down the Google rankings. Of course, some have turned to using the ‘dark arts’ but this doesn’t always work. Particularly in the luxury market, where consumers tend to be much better informed when it comes to travel,” he said.

Talking about the potential challenges for the Maldives regarding boosting confidence in the tourism industry, Mathews said that authorities would need to satisfy resort owners and the international brands operating in the country, as well as the wider population that positive changes were being enacted.

“Suddenly, word of mouth can become very important. This makes it difficult to paper over the cracks,” he said.

Mathews said the Maldives’ relatively unique resort industry – a hundred-or-so resort properties exclusively built on individual private islands – had been afforded protection from any political unrest that centered mostly on its inhabited islands.

“The Maldives resort experience is obviously very different to the Maldives experienced in the capital of Male’, and this does help insulate the industry from uncertainty,” he said. “Yet economically, I would have thought there was interest to try and bring tourism income directly to the capital and other [inhabited] local islands.”

However, the negative impacts on Maldives tourism witnessed following February’s political turmoil appears not to have been repeated despite fears of continued unrest.

The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) updated a travel advisory for the Maldives on August 24 to account for potential violent clashes linked to the release of findings by the Commission of National Inquiry (CNI).

“Very positive”

Amidst talks of potential boycotts of the Maldives travel industry, a stance at one point this year backed by former President Mohamed Nasheed, Deputy Tourism Minister Maleeh contended that arrival figures immediately after February had been sluggish. However, even before the release of the CNI’s findings, which were welcomed by the Commonwealth last week, Maleeh contended that arrival figures had shown “very positive” during June and July.

The deputy minister therefore moved this week to play down fears over the country experiencing continued difficulties in attracting visitors.

“The hard days are over following the findings of the [CNI] report. Over the last week, unlike February, we have seen no major disturbances in the country and this sends a positive message out about the destination,” he said. “During the next four months we are expecting a positive outcome for the industry despite the economic crisis.”

Maleeh added that in light of political instability and “turbulence” experienced in the country since the transfer of power, internal stability was a huge part of attracting and maintaining visitor numbers

“What we do is try to provide the industry and media with information that is true and accurate,” he said.

In March, the Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) announced that, as well as returning to its ‘sunny side of life’ branding, the industry had set a target during 2012 to attract one million visitors to the country by year’s end.

Maleeh claimed that the industry remained on track to meet these goals, despite certain key challenges such as the impact of ongoing financial uncertainty on some core European tourism markets like the UK and Italy.

During the last 120 days of 2012, Maleeh said that a major tourism marketing push was being planned to meet these goals.  This focus was said to be focused on over 12 major emerging and established markets through Europe and Asia, including measures such as six travel road shows and an international media push.

“We will be bringing an estimated 40 journalists from around the world for press familiarisation trips to show them the ‘sunny side of life’,” he said.

Maleeh claimed that the MMPRC would also be collaborating with over 300 industry stakeholders including resorts groups, liveaboard boat operators and travel agencies to attend a number of major travel events and fairs around the world including London, Rome, Tokyo and Osaka. Key national markets in China and Eastern Europe would also be included.

Maleeh said authorities considered using special roadshow events in order to ensure a short-term boost in tourist interest.

Back in April, the MMPRC teamed up with local airline group Mega Maldives to carry out a travel road-show to promote the Maldives through what it described as a whistle-stop tour of five Chinese cities in one week.

According to Maleeh, the tours allowed the private sector to “close deals” during a period of “sluggish” growth in February and March.

“The roadshows have shown very positive results and we are looking to have one in Eastern Europe to try and boost the market in countries like Poland and the Czech Republic.

The MMPRC has also announced a commitment to take part in special market focused events like the Dive Resort Travel (DRT) Expo in China and other luxury travel-focused shows.

“Sunny side of life”

As part of the organisation’s marketing push, Maleeh added that under ‘sunny side of life’ brand, authorities would make use of a number of what he called lesser known taglines to target specific areas including ‘the spiritual side of life’ and ‘the colourful side of life’ – a tag used to play up the country as a dive destination.

“These messages are quite useful in areas like the Middle East, which are very popular with honeymooners,” he said. “Right now we are hoping that 2012 is shaping up to be a very promising year for tourism in the Maldives.”

Beyond addressing the Maldives’ image, several industry insiders have also raised concerns of late about the financial realities facing both local and multinational companies working in the country.

Just last month, several resort managers voiced concerns over revenue raising measures proposed by the Finance Ministry, which they claimed would have a detrimental financial impact on the tourism industry and provide little improvement in service or support in return.

The proposed measures were part of an ‘austerity’ package sent to parliament’s Finance Committee during August in a bid to address the country’s crippled financial condition.

However, since the publication of the CNI report, President Waheed told Reuters this month that China would grant the Maldives US$500 million (MVR7.7billion) in loans during his state visit to the country.

The loans, equal to nearly one quarter of the Maldives’ GDP, would include $150 million (MVR2.3billion) for housing and infrastructure, with another $350million (MVR5.4billion) from the Export-Import Bank of China, reported Reuters.

Minister of Finance and Trasury Abdulla Jihad told Minivan News today that despite the possible provision of finance from China, the proposed revenue raising plans such as
raising Tourism Goods and Services Tax (TGST) to 15 percent were still being discussed to help balance finances.

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Surf legend Damien Hardman wins Four Seasons Maldives Surfing Champions Trophy

The 2012 Four Seasons Maldives Surfing Champions Trophy concluded on Sunday with the top prize going to two-time world champion Damien Hardman.

The 46 year-old Australian narrowly defeated three-time world champion, US contender Tom Curren, to win the grand prize of US$10,000 – on top of his US$6000 winnings for both the Single and Twin-Fin divisions.

“I can’t remember the last time I won sixteen grand,” Hardman said, following his win, the trophy for which was presented by Defence Minister Mohamed Nazim.

“The standard of surfing was great, we’re all in our mid to late 40s but it doesn’t matter how old you are if you put the work in to maintain your fitness and ability.”

Accepting the trophy for the runner-up, Curren used the opportunity to highlight the imminent privatisation of the Thanburudhoo surf breaks – including the competition break Sultans – by the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF).

“The break at Sultans is under threat of privatisation. There should be a consensus about that – local surfers need to be respected and the discussion needs to continue,” Curren said.

Under the proposal, Singaporean investment firm Telos would receive a 50 year lease on the military training island to develop a “boutique surf resort”, in exchange for US$5 million to develop an MNDF training facility on nearby Girifishi. Local surfers would be permitted to surf the breaks twice a month.

Maldivian surfer Hassan ‘Ibu’ Areef, who won the Four Seasons local title and a prize of MVR 25,000 (US$1621), told Minivan News that Sultans was one of the most accessible and consistent waves for local surfers, and one of the few left in Male’ Atoll that had not been privatised by upmarket resorts.

“There are limited places for local surfers to go,” he said. “If the breaks are privatised, we will have nowhere to go and practice, and private surfing businesses and safaris will also be affected. It is really sad.”

“This is not all about money; it is about enjoyment as well. These people to not really understand surfing culture. They only see a business opportunity,” Ibu said.

The privatisation of the competition-standard break would deny local surfers a home ground advantage during big competitions, he pointed out, “because we will not have been able to practice there.”

Other local surfers have also slammed the idea. In a document circulated on social media,‘Surfers’ Report on Thanburudhoo’, they argue that the island has two of the atoll’s four accessible waves (Sultans and Honkeys).

“If Thanburudhoo is a resort the only two accessible waves in the atoll are in Himmafushi (Jails) and Thulusdhoo (Cokes) – the number of accessible waves in the atoll is halved from four to two,” the document states.

Most of the waves in the atoll are claimed by their respective resorts, including Tombstones (Full Moon resort), Ninjas (Club Med Kani), Lhohis (Hudhuranfushi) and Chickens (Kuda Villingili).

Sparked by the tournament’s international media attention, the situation has begun receiving attention from surf publications around the world.

“It’s becoming increasingly clear that privatisation not only infringes on local surfers’ rights to freely access the reefs and islands they’ve inhabited and lived off for centuries,” reported South African surf news website Zig Zag.

“It also ensures any visiting surfers who can’t afford to pay the prices of these ’boutique’ resorts will instead be forced to sit shoulder-to-shoulder waiting for a set at the last two quality spots in North Malé. The knock-on effect could even lead to surf tour operations going out of business – why go on a surf trip when you’re not allowed to surf half the waves? The end result would mean locals not only lose out on waves, but for those employed by, or operating their own surf tour business, their very livelihood could be threatened,” the site reported.

Local surfers present at the Four Seasons’ event seized the opportunity to confront the Defence Minister about the proposed privatisation, following the presentations. Nazim reportedly promised further discussions.

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STO puts resort development plans on hold

The State Trading Organisation (STO) has put plans to purchase a resort property on hold, citing “current economic conditions” as a barrier to any potential deal, local media has reported.

Back in June, STO announced its intentions to venture into the Maldives tourism industry, with the company targeting the purchase of “at least three resorts and one hotel” as part of attempts to increase its access to foreign currency.

However, the Sun Online news service yesterday quoted STO Managing Director Shahid Ali in announcing a temporary halt to the company’s resort purchase ambitions.

According to the report, the company remains committed to the ongoing construction of a 5-star hotel on  Hulhumale’ under a contract with USA-based multinational travel company, Carlson Group.

The STO is the Maldives’ state-owned importer, and is the primary supplier of general goods, fuel and pharmaceuticals to the Maldives. It also supplies aviation fuel to Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA).

STO had formerly operated a resort property in the country, before selling it to a private group in 2007. Shahid had told Sun Online this week that the group had been focused on developing the island of Muthaafushi.

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MNDF training island of Thanburudhoo to be developed as resort

Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) has confirmed plans to develop a tourist resort on the island of Thanburudhoo, currently being used by the military for training and recreational purposes.

The confirmation comes just a week following the registration of the MNDF Welfare Company, created in a bid to generate income to fund welfare services for the armed forces by investing in various businesses, including the tourism sector.

Speaking to Minivan News on Sunday, Lieutenant Abdullah Ali explained that the MNDF is not going to play any direct role in the development of the resort, and that the island would be leased to a third party.

He claimed that the concept of developing the training island as a tourist resort was approved by the former government in 2010, but that work had stalled “for various reasons”.

“However, we have started that process again, and the discussions are continuing,” Lieutenant Ali said.

He also added that the MNDF Welfare Company is “going to be involved” in the project.

“MNDF Welfare Company is going to do tourism, real estate and other potentially lucrative businesses in the future. Our aim is to help reduce state expenditure by self-generating revenue to fund welfare services of the defense force.” Ali observed.

Former Tourism Minister Dr. Mariyam Zulfa confirmed to Minivan News that the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) government endorsed the Thanburudhoo project back in 2010, but said the President Mohamed Nasheed’s administration had never decided to involve the Defense Ministry or MNDF’ in the project.

“MDP believes in a center right system where the government has little or no control over the economy and promote privatisation. Defense Ministry or MNDF – whichever name u call it – it is still the government. So we would of course never support them to be involved in the project.” Zulfa observed.

She added: “As you know during Former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom several uninhabited islands were given to various ministries. So the only reason Defense Ministry’s name appeared in the documents was because the island was registered under the ministry.”

Dr. Zulfa stated that the proposal was initially submitted by individual named Dr Gunnar Lee-Miller, who proposed to develop Thanburudhoo as a surfing resort. The nearby waters host beautiful dive sites and a popular surf-break, which attract many local and foreign surfers.

“We though it was a good proposal and supported it at the time, but the lease transfer was not signed,” Former Tourism Minister contended. “However, I don’t have any details of what happened with the project, following the MDP’s ousting from power on February 7.”

Minivan News contacted Gunnar Lee-Miller seeking to verify whether he was still negotiating with the authorities to secure the island, however Lee-Miller said that it was “not a good time” and hung up the phone. Further attempts to seek comment were met with no response.

Lee-Miller is identified as the President of Telos Investment, a private investment holding firm based in Singapore. The firm is leading the Five Islands project, which involves the development of three integrated resorts over five islands and nine square kilometres of lagoon in Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll. The project was contracted to the company under former government’s Corporate Social Responsibility(CRS) scheme, in return for establishing high-end sporting facilities in the country.

A speaker profile for Lee-Miller on the website of the Hotel Investment Conference Asia Pacific (HICAP) states that the developer “was recently appointed Senior Advisor to the Maldives National Sports Council assisting in all national sport and sport tourism development projects.”

Surfer controversy

Several local surfers have meanwhile raised concerns on social networks, claiming that the Thamburudhoo project involved dredging and reclaiming  the surrounding area of the island reef, which would destroy the popular surfing spot.

Banzai Bongo, a well-known local surfer, wrote on Facebook: “This is going to affect the natural current flow of the surrounding waves such as Jailbreaks, Honkies, Sultans and Pasta. Moreover, it will destroy dive spots around this area. So the government’s best interest is to annihilate our natural resources which includes world class surf sites and dive sites.”

Bongo called for surfers to “save these waves like we all stood against the state and saved the Trestles. Save it for or children, save it for the future.”

The Maldivian Surfing Association (MSA) said it would be issuing an official statement.

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Laugfs Holdings discusses Maldives resort ambitions

Sri Lanka-based Laugfs Holdings is reportedly looking to boost its presence in the hospitality industry by establishing a resort property in the Maldives.

Company Chairman W K H Wegapitiyahas told the TTG Asia travel news publication today that potential Maldivian locations were now being considered to establish a resort under the company’s Ananthaya brand.

The group is also said to be in talks to set up another resort property in Thailand, according to the report.

Laugfs Holdings, which was founded fifteen years ago to provide energy services, has in recent years moved to extend its operations into leisure and retail.

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Police investigating staff death at W Retreat and Spa property

Police have confirmed investigations are continuing into the death of a male member of staff at the W Retreat and Spa Maldives resort this morning – with preliminary findings suggesting the man passed away of natural causes.

Police Spokesperson Hassan Haneef confirmed that police were notified by the resort this morning that a 55 year-old Indian national who worked as a chef at the North Ari Atoll property had been found dead.

”His body was found dead inside his room at about 3:45am,” Haneef said. ”The body was then taken to South Ari Atoll Mahibadhoo Hospital.”

Haneef added that according to the doctor on duty at the hospital, the chef appeared to have died of natural causes.  Haneef stressed that police were still investigating the case before confirming the cause of death.

W Maldives

In a statement, W Retreat and Spa Maldives, which is operated by the Starwood Hotels brand, confirmed that a male staff member had passed away today.

“The hotel team immediately contacted emergency services and local authorities requesting assistance at the resort. Local authorities are investigating the case currently,” the company stated.

“W Retreat & Spa Maldives is extremely saddened by what has transpired and would like to express our deepest sympathy to the family and friends of the deceased.”

As resort management were continuing to work with local authorities over the case, W said it was not able to comment further at present over the possible cause of death.

“The safety and security of our staff and guests continues to be a priority at all times,” the company added.

While unrelated to today’s incident,  Indian nationals working in the country have been at the forefront of several high-profile police investigations over the last two weeks.

High profile cases

Late last month, an Indian national working in a local resort was attacked with a hammer and mugged while in Male’ city – allegedly by a former employee of the resort he worked in.

The victim, identified by India’s Express News Service as 24 year-old Ramakrishnan Sadanandan from Thiruvananthapuram, was reportedly attacked at 2:30pm on March 31 while staying in a local guest house.

Meanwhile, earlier this week, police confirmed investigations were taking place into the suicide of a 39 year-old Indian national whilst he was in custody at Dhoonidhoo.  The exact details of the suicide were being looked into by police.

However, the case prompted Indian High Commissioner Dynaneshwar Mulay on Friday to raise concerns over the general treatment of Indian expatriates in the Maldives by the country’s police and judiciary in particular.

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Increasing density of resort development threatens key tourism appeal, warns former tourism minister

The cabinet has decided to increase the development density of resort islands from 20 percent to 30 percent, in a move tourism authorities of the former government have claimed will impact a key appeal of the Maldives’ destination.

In a statement, cabinet said ministers noted that “opportunities for commercial expansion were limited due to unavailability of land area to develop tourist facilities on leased-out spaces.”

“Members also agreed that, raising the land area limit for construction of tourist facilities, to meet market demand, would largely contribute to the prosperity of the island,” the statement read.

Former tourism minister Dr Mariyam Zulfa said “one of the resort owners behind the [February 7] coup” had pressured her to change the density regulations.

“I privately consulted foreign [resort] investors and the advice I got was not to change this, because the Maldives’ ‘islandness’, a key product feature, would be lost,” she told Minivan News.

“Thirty percent is a huge amount of land to developed as a built up area, and islandness is what makes the Maldives competitive,” she said.

Mohamed Nasheed’s government had debated and provisionally approved increasing the development density to 25 percent, Dr Zulfa said, “but that was before the industry feedback that this was not something to play around with.”

“I can categorically say this is something [resort tycoon and Jumhoree Party (JP) leader] Mr Gasim Ibrahim wanted for a long time. If you do an eyeball inspection of his properties already they more than 20 percent,” Dr Zulfa alleged. “I knew this would happen the moment the regime changed. It doesn’t surprise me.”

Secretary General of the Maldives Association of Tourism Industry (MATI), ‘Sim’ Mohamed Ibrahim, said the density increase would “allow some resorts to develop more facilities, entertainment and staff amenities.”

“It will give resort developers more flexibility,” he said. “We don’t think it will have an impact [on the competitiveness of the destination].”

Dr Zulfa has previously contended that pressure from several government-allied resort owners had led the new government to declare that 25 year resort island lease extensions could be paid in installments rather than upfront, a decision she claimed took US$135 million out of the budget overnight.

In March, the Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA) said it had anticipated receiving a total of Rf375 million (US$24 million) for lease extensions, however due the government’s recent decision to accept resort island lease extension payments in installments, the  income received dropped to Rf23 million (US$1.5 million). The government has meanwhile said it has a budget deficit of US$155 million.

Tourism Minister Ahmed Adheeb was not responding to calls at time of press.

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Richard Branson calls for early elections “as soon as feasibly possible”

Founder of the Virgin empire, multi-billionaire Sir Richard Branson, has again delved into Maldivian politics with a third blog post on the subject, declaring his support for early elections “as soon as feasibly possible”.

Branson first wrote an open letter calling on “interim” President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan to “do the right thing” and hold free and fair elections before the end of the year, describing it as “completely astounding that you have been part of an overthrow of a democratically elected government that has effectively let the old regime back into power.”

Several days later he had a phone call with Dr Waheed, and subsequently said he believed the new president was “determined to be an honest broker” who “had nothing to do with [the coup]. He watched the situation unfolding on television.”

Branson’s third and most recent post came after “a lengthy conversation with former President Mohamed Nasheed”, who “wanted to be sure that it was completely clear what had happened in the Maldives.”

“Mr Nasheed said that he had been overthrown by a coup. He said that the confusion about what happened in the first two days came about because he was forced to remain in the Presidential Palace in order to keep him away from the press, was therefore incommunicado, and only managed to escape after a couple of days,” Branson wrote.

“He said that he was very concerned the Maldives could become another Afghanistan. He believes that the way to resolve this is for interim President Waheed to step down and for The Speaker to hold court for two months.
He said he sees no reason why there shouldn’t be early elections during this calendar year, preferably within two-to-three months. The people of this country, he said, need to be asked as soon as possible who they want to rule them. The Maldives and the Maldivians urgently need to get back on track.

“He believed that there was is Islamic element of the military and mentioned that some of them chanted on the street “God is great”. He said that the new government had thrown out all human rights cases and corruption cases, which he felt was wrong. He said that some of his MPs had been removed, others had court cases brought against them.

“He ended by saying: ‘Governments should only be changed through the ballot box and not by any other means. No military in the world should be allowed to take over a Government and hold on to it.’

“We now have both sides of the story,” Branson declared.

“Having listened to both sides, it does seem wise for an election to take place as soon as is feasibly possible so that the people of the Maldives can begin to put this ugly chapter behind them.”

Branson attended the Slow Life Symposium at the upmarket Soneva Fushi resort in October 2011, a highly eco-conscious resort owned by Sonu and Eva Shivdesani.

Other attendees at the resort included actress Daryl Hannah, star of films including ‘Blade Runner’, ‘Kill Bill’ and ‘Splash’; Ed Norton, star of films including ‘Fight Club’ and ‘American History X’; Tim Smit, founder of the Eden Project; Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed; and an array of climate experts and scientists including Mark Lynas and Mike Mason.

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Maldives “too expensive” say tourists

With most of the tourists ranking Maldives as an expensive holiday destination in a 2011 survey, the industry is reminded of the longstanding need to explore means to change that perception, as it faces new challenges in sustaining the growing China market while European arrivals drop.

The “Maldives Visitor Survey 2011” compiled by the private consulting firm Commerce, Development and Environment (CDE) in collaboration with Tourism Ministry, depicts the tourist’s perspective on industry related products and services, reason for visiting and expenditure.

Nearly 3000 tourists who arrived in Maldives in April 2011 were given questionnaires, which were collected for analysis before their departure.

Too expensive

According to the report released today, 46 percent of the tourists believed accommodation is too expensive despite the high rankings for services at the place of stay.

Soft drinks, alcohol were also rated expensive by 42 percent, while food, water and souvenirs received a similar ranking from 41 percent of tourists polled.

Transport by sea and air, including sports activities, meanwhile made it to the top three on the “value for money” category.

The report indicates that 53 percent of the tourists spent a minimum of US$1000 during their stay in Maldives, while the expenditure trends show an increase.

However, speaking at the launching ceremony, tourism tycoon “Champa” Hussain Afeef demanded more accurate figures on expenditure, with comparisons to rival small island tourism destinations.

He also contended that the Maldives is “not an expensive country”, and that this was a mere “perception”.

“We have very top end hotels to come to” he said, which offers high quality products targeted to the tourists arriving from the traditional European market.

He insisted that resorts still offer beds at US$250 rate and prices have not increased since the commencement of Tourism Goods and Services Tax (TGST).

Tourism Minister Mariyam Zulfa agreed with Afeef.

“The current perception is coming about from the availability of current high end products,” adding that the prices cannot be lowered.

The government was moving towards boosting mid-market tourism, Zulfa observed. “This will provide more value for money, comfortable accommodation affordable to more people who want to visit Maldives,” she said.

Adapting to the Chinese market

The need to adapting to the Chinese market, which is dominating 15 percent of arrivals and plugging the gaps left by a decline in traditional European market, was highlighted by the survey team and the government.

Special Envoy Ibrahim Hussain Zaki, who launched the survey report today, reiterated that China is the dominating market and “products need to be changed to adapt to China market”.

“Otherwise we will not be able to sustain the market,” he said.

However, some resort operators inclined towards relying on the traditional European market.

“We need to find a strategy to maintain our traditional original market,” Sun Travel and Tours Chairman and MP Ahmed Siyam said, raising concerns over the long term dependence on Chinese market.

“We noticed arrivals from Taiwan increased in 2002. But after five years it dropped. And now we don’t see a single Taiwanese tourist here,” he claimed. “We must ask why Chinese are coming to Maldives. They don’t like the sun. They don’t like the beach or the diving.”

Negative publicity

The survey team observed that the Maldives is chosen as a destination mostly based on material published on internet, or from word of mouth. Therefore, it is critical to safeguard the reputation as a holiday destination, report recommends.

Shiyam meanwhile pointed out that the industry is threatened by increasing “negative publicity”, which has reportedly mounted due to the mass religious protest on December 23, 2011, and the short-lived nationwide spa ban imposed following protesters’ calls to close down the spas and massage parlors claiming that they doubled as brothels.

Shiyam claimed that the spa was one of the most enjoyed activities and their closure would create serious concerns. “We need to isolate tourism from politics to ensure sustainable tourism growth,” he asserted.

According to the report, snorkelling was enjoyed by 41 percent of tourists while diving and spa treatments received the same ranking from 17 percent tourists.

It also stated that one in four visitors return to the Maldives.

The main attractions include the Maldives natural environment, sun and peacefulness. Over half of the tourists rated the Maldives natural environment, quality of products, security and hospitality better than other similar destinations such as Seychelles, Mauritius, Thailand, Indonesia and Fiji.

However, the tourists were looking for improvement in cafes, restaurants, visits to capital Male and shopping, and fewer transfer delays.

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