Tag: Tourism

Revenue figures reveal economic impact of change in lease extension policy

The Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA) released figures earlier this week showing the extent to which the change in island lease payments has affected the Maldivian economy.

According to MIRA’s figures, the total revenue projected for March was Rf1044 million [US$ 68 million], but had received 37.9 percent lower than the projected revenue “mainly due to the unrealised revenue from the Lease Extension Period.”

MIRA had anticipated to receive a total of Rf375 million [US$ 24 million] for lease extensions – however, due to government’s recent decision to accept resort island’s lease extension payments in installments – the  income received dropped to nearly Rf23 million (US$1.5 million).

These figures were published the same week that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned the People’s Majlis that drastic measures must be made to reduce the government’s budget deficit. At the same time, the government announced that it was promoting a third of the police force and paying two years of allowances to defence personnel.

The IMF noted that the budget figures it had seen did not reflect the lost revenue resulting from the change in collection of lease payments.

Concluding the IMF’s visit to the country, the group’s representative suggested that the government reduce civil service pay and benefits, re-introduce recently removed import duties, increase the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and increase the bed tax by 50 percent.

The IMF’s expressed it fears that the government may exhaust its reserves if it did not resolve its budgetary imbalances: “Immediate steps have to be taken. This is the reality, we have to face it.”

MIRA’s figures appear to bear out the fears of the former Tourism Minister Dr Mariyam Zulfa, who predicted that the new government, having “over-interpreted” the repayment clauses in the Tourism Act, could expect to see up to $135 million taken from government revenues in the next year.

At the time of the Tourism Ministry’s announcement of the extension payment changes, the government had already received lump sum payments from 25 resorts equating to US$40 million and was expecting nearly US$135 more from 90 resorts.

“The lease extension is about increasing the asset value of the properties. In the Maldives, all the islands actually belong to the government and when the second amendment to the tourism law came into place it gave the option for resorts to extend the existing 25 year leases to 50 years,” explained Dr Zulfa, at the time.

“A time period was given and there is a clause [in tourism lease extension regulation] that stipulates that the payment must be done in completion before the lease period can be extended. So, the Nasheed government had interpreted that clause as the payment to be paid in full for the period extended. So, because the wording is such that the payment must be complete before the extension is granted, we interpreted it as the full payment.”

“But there is another clause [in Tourism Act] which says the manner in which the payment is calculated is on an annual basis. This [current] government has over-interpreted that clause and has said that the payment has to be made on an annual basis, but I have always insisted that the value of the government assets must not be allowed to decrease because the payments go to funding welfare services, housing projects, infrastructure projects, health services and so on that would benefit the local community,” she said.

“The current government has not only allowed payment to be made on an annual basis but allow for the payment to start at the end of the 25 year period, which is years away. It is a huge loss to the government treasury, about US$150 million, and I think as a result that a lot of people will be deprived of the many projects that we have started for the benefit of the communities across the atolls,” argued Zulfa.

Meanwhile, the Tourism Minister Ahmed Adheeb has said that the government would reimburse US$ 40, accepted as lease extension payments prior to the change in policy  by deducting the amount from the rent payments.

Explaining the decision at the time, Adheeb also said that the government was happy make things easier for the tourism industry wherever it could, after it had contributed so much to the economy through taxes.

He further claimed that the government was seeking to act in line with a December 2011 High Court ruling against Nasheed administration’s interpretation of the relevant clause in lease extension regulation.

After the ruling was made, and before it lost control of the government, the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), had stated its intention to appeal the High Court’s decision. Dr Zulfa reports that the current government has removed this appeal from the high court.

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Maldives reverts to ‘Sunny side of life’ branding, targets one million tourist arrivals for 2012

The Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) has appointed staff to target specific markets for the tourism industry, in a bid to reach one million tourist arrivals in 2012.

The markets to be targeted included Italy and Japan (Ibrahim Asim), Germany and Switzerland (Fathimath Afra), UK, China and Korea (Fathimath Raheel), Russia and France (Najumulla Shareef), Spain (Fathimath Arushee), India (Aishath Rimna) and the Middle East (Mariyam Rasheed).

In a press conference on Monday, newly-appointed Deputy Minister of Tourism Mohamed Maleeh Jamaal – previously Secretary General of the Maldives Association of Travel and Tour Operators (MATATO) – said the corporation intends to launch several campaigns and PR activities in major tourist arrival markets to the country.

“We have about 102 resorts and around 26,000 beds. If each resort sets a target of bringing three more tourists to each bed, or 77 more tourists than the number that booked the resorts last year, we would easily reach the target,” Jamaal said.

He said the corporation plans to conduct joint promotion campaigns along with the tour operators and resorts, and had segmented itself to target each market.

The MMPRC revealed that it had been given a budget of Rf 70 million (US$4.5 million) to conduct marketing activities for the year.

Jamaal said that the budget for last year had been US$2.3 million, and with that budget they the country had seen the tourist arrivals of around 900,000.

“So this year, with this budget, we are confident that we can reach the target,” Jamaal said.

Jamaal expressed disappointment over the UK-based NGO Friends of Maldives (FOM)’s travel advisory, asking that potential tourists consider the idea of being a “responsible traveller” by avoiding specific resorts owned by people allegedly involved “in the subversion of democracy, and human rights abuses in the Maldives”.

“We are disappointed because, the tourism industry contributes 70 percent of every hundred rufiya every citizen of this country earns, which means from every hundred rufiya, 70 rufiyaa comes from the tourism sector. So every impact on the country’s tourism sector impacts the general living of the people,” Jamaal said.

“I think those who conducts these activities really envy the [success of] the industry. This is very sad. But we have the plans, and the capacity to overcome such negative campaigns, and therefore we will face every challenge and we will overcome that as well,” he claimed.

Regarding a reported recommendation from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that the Maldives increase the bed tax levied on the tourism industry because of the state of the economy, and a comment made during a meeting of parliament’s public finances committee about the decline of the Chinese tourism market, Jamaal said that the tourism ministry did not forecast that the decline would continue.

“The Chinese market is improving. Our [predictions] do not show that the Chinese market will decline to the extent the IMF has said, and we had a positive growth in the last three months. This gives evidence to it,” he said.

Chinese tourist arrivals dropped by 34.8 percent to 12,237 in February compared to the same point last year, according to Asian travel trade newspaper TTG.  Around 6,500 fewer tourists arrived from China last month, largely due to the cancellation of charter flights, which are expected to resume in April.

Asked about the impact  media coverage of the political instability was having on the Maldives’ reputation as a safe and stable tourism destination, Jamaal acknowledged that certain international media coverage had negatively affected tourism.

However Jamaal said he believed the situation would not significantly impact tourist interest in the Maldives as a holiday destination.

“Our efforts to counter the bad image given out by the international media will help us recover the decline,” he said.

“In order to consolidate the Chinese market, a senior delegation consisting of key government officials and members of the MMPRC, in partnerships with Mega Maldives Airlines, had decided to go to four major cities in China to meet the authorities, tour operators and journalists.

“We will build awareness in China about what has happened in the Maldives, and I am sure that after that the Chinese market will improve further,” Jamaal added.

“However, we do not believe that the Maldives will be significantly affected by these negative headlines as the destination remains popular in our major source markets like Europe. Despite the economic slowdown that has taken place across the EU, we have seen positive growth.”

Reverting back to Sunny Side of Maldives

Jamaal announced that the country would be reverting back to its former branding ‘Maldives: the sunny side of life’, instead of the ‘Always Natural’ branding introduced under Nasheed’s government.

Jamaal told Minivan News that the decision to revert back to the Sunny Side of Life branding was based on “a number of questions and research the industry had about adopting a new corporate identity for Maldives tourism.”

“At the time of the rebranding we had to ask ourselves certain questions; such as do we have the budget to support a new brand identity? Was it the best time to introduce a new message?” he said. “The Maldives like many nations around the world is facing an economic crisis.”

Jamaal claimed that relying on a strong and established brand was the best direction at present for tourism marketing, but suggested it would be “enhanced” into subcategories such as “Maldives: the Spiritual Side of Life” to promote spa operations.

“This year instead of more generic messages, we will have specific focuses on certain sectors to mirror the efforts of the country’s tourism industry,” Jamaal said.

MMPRC was established during the time of former president Mohamed Nasheed to spearhead the country’s public relations and marketing strategy, replacing the former Maldives Tourism Promotion Board (MTPB).

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Chinese tourist arrivals drop 34.8%

Chinese tourist arrivals dropped by 34.8 percent to 12,237 in February compared to the same point last year, according to Asian travel trade newspaper TTG.  Around 6,500 fewer tourists arrived from China last month, largely due to the cancellation of charter flights, which are expected to resume in April.

Visitor numbers to the Maldives dropped by 4.7 percent year on year in February following the political crisis, the industry paper revealed. Arrivals fell from 87,392 to 83,252, after having grown by 13.4 percent when compared with the same period in 2010.

Arrivals from the UK also fell, while visitors from France and Germany rose by 4.9 percent and 25 percent, respectively.

Efforts including familiarisation trips arranged for the media and tour operators have been employed to reassure Chinese tour operators who appear to have been unnerved more than others by the upheavals following February 7.

The Chinese market makes up around a fifth of all tourist arrivals to the Maldives in a sector that indirectly contributes over 70 percent of the country’s GDP.

George Weinmann, Chief Executive of Mega Maldives Airlines, which charters flights between Male’ and multiple Chinese destinations, told the New York Times this week the full schedule of flights was to resume on April 4. He was confident that his business would continue to grow – its employee numbers have doubled in just over a year.

The Maldives sent a group of 200 to the recent ITB trade fair in Berlin, representing 65 companies, to reassure the international markets that the Maldives remained a safe travel destination.

The need for this public relations exercise was reflected by the words of Minister of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), Lord Howell, who felt the need to defend the country‘s image during discussion of the Maldives’ situation in the House of Lords on March 22.

“The Maldives, as my noble friend has said, remains the paradise and attractive tourist area that it has always been and continues to be, because at the moment we do not judge that there is any danger in the tourist areas,” said Howell.

The FCO lifted all travel restrictions to the UK on March, as did Germany, though it has been reported that tourists in resorts have been prevented from taking trips to the capital.

Politics in paradise

The alleged involvement of tourist resort magnates in February’s changeover of power has seen attempts to politicise the tourism industry, in particular to put pressure on tourists to avoid certain resorts.

In the UK, a Maldives Travel Advisory website has been established, grading a number of resorts on a traffic light system, ranging from ‘green’ sites which the advisory urges tourists to visit, ‘amber’ which are under consideration regarding their alleged involvement in the changeover, and ‘red’ which the advisory urges against travel to.

The selective nature of the boycott is indicative of the desire of all sides to shield the image of the tourist industry from long term damage. Of the 107 resorts currently listed on the website, only 12 are listed in the ‘red’ category, with another 12 in the ‘amber’ category.

The Friends of Maldives (FOM) group has attempted to publicise this travel advisory, for example by handing out leaflets outside of a meeting held by the Tourism Minister Ahmed Adheeb Abdul Gafoor in London earlier this month.

This attempt did receive some coverage in the British Media, with prominent columnist for the The Daily Telegraph, Oliver Smith, writing, “The moral implications of visiting the Maldives have been called into question following the downfall of Mr Nasheed.”

Adheeb had earlier expressed concerns that the message of the political and geographical separation of the resorts from wider Maldivian society was not being made clear enough: “That message is not going out. People don’t know that the resorts are separate [from the rest of the Maldives], and international headlines have made people panic.”

The Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) has employed the services of a professional PR company, Rooster Creative Public Relations Ltd to represent its interests in the UK, explaining, “The purpose of having a full time PR and Marketing agency is to overcome the image that is continuously spoiling in the UK market due to the current political turbulence.”

Despite the presence of some Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) supporters outside of the venue who distributed literature relating to police brutality, the party insists that politics should not impinge on tourism.

In a recent interview, the former Minister for Tourism Dr Mariyam Zulfa told Minivan News, “It has never been the MDPs intention or any other political party’s intention to harm the economy in any way.”

Concerns that politics will damage the image of the destination could be premature. In the days after the coup, a report on Reuters that tourists “barely put down their cocktails during the political crisis” appears emblematic of the attitude of those seeking relaxation in paradise.

In a February poll taken on the Chinese social networking site Weibo, only a third of over 8000 respondents said that the coup had affected them. Tourists at Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA) who were recently asked their opinion about the politics in Male’ did not show concern.

A couple from London said they were unaware of any issues, whilst a Swiss tourist stated his belief that the problem was one for the state to deal with and should not concern tourists.

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Teased, touched and assaulted: foreign women facing harassment

Walking down a crowded street two weeks ago in the Maldives capital of Male’, Lisa*, 25, had one of the most horrific experiences of her life.

Teased, touched and assaulted by two young men on the street, the Australian foreign worker was left deeply upset and stunned over the harassment that occurred in broad daylight.

“I was walking near the swim track when these two boys in their 20s came behind me and grabbed my ass. I screamed and they walked away. I kept walking forward and then suddenly saw the two boys approaching me again. I was really scared because I did not know what they were going to do next,” Lisa recalled.

“They came back, surrounded me and started to pass comments at me. They touched me inappropriately, grabbed me and one of them slapped me,” she continued. It lasted for about 20 seconds I think. I took my phone and warned them I was calling the police. Then they grabbed me once more and just ran off.”

She had travelled from Australia to work in the Maldives just a few months before the incident, and had not expected to face harassment or attack, she said.

In the last few weeks foreign women from diverse nationalities working in Maldives have come forward and told Minivan News about various attacks, ranging from verbal abuse to physical and sometimes sexual assaults.

Clarice*, a 23-year-old French woman, was teased and stalked on the street while she was walking home on March 1.

“I was walking past the artificial beach around 12:30pm in the afternoon. A group of four local boys, maybe in their 20s, started following me. They passed comments like ‘you are my angel’ and one of them grabbed my arm and said ‘oh your skin is so beautiful’. I really did not understand what they wanted and I was really scared because they kept following me,” Clarice explained.

“Because they were following me I went back to the office, instead of going home. I live alone so I was did not want them to find out where I live,” she added.

Clarice decided not to inform police because it was mostly verbal abuse, she said.

Unsafe at home

Meanwhile, several other women interviewed exclaimed that the “threats have extended from streets to homes”.

Katie*, a 34-year old American who has worked in Male’ for almost a year, said she thought she had figured out the Maldives, its culture and its people. Respecting the Muslim background, she said she was sensitive to societal rules, dressed modestly and until recently, thought of Maldives as a safe place.

What changed her impression was a horrific incident last month which a local man sexually assaulted her while she she was unlocking the door of her apartment.

“It was early morning around 4:00am. I was unlocking the door to my house when I felt someone grab my neck from behind. At first I thought it was my friends who had left just seconds ago. But the grip was very firm so I turned around and saw a man wearing white shirt and pants. I screamed at the top of my voice,” Katie recalled.

“He grabbed my breasts, ripped the t-shirt I was wearing. I tried to hit him with my hands, screamed and tried to escape. At that time the door was unlocked and he had pushed me inside. I managed to hit his groin with my feet. That’s when he let go of me and ran out. I tried to follow him but he fled on a motorbike too quickly,” she said. “I was so distraught, I could not even call the police.”

Neighbors who heard her screams called the police. Around five to six officers arrived on the scene with a forensic team.

Disappointed with police

However, according to Katie, the police did not take her statement until three weeks later and then got the details of the attack completely wrong.

“The police had stated my necklace was stolen. It broke off during the attack, I still have it. The attacker must have known the necklace I was wearing was not gold because it was made of multi-colored beads,” Katie pointed out.

She added that she had later found out from CCTV camera owners nearby her house that the police had not requested the footage or interviewed neighbors for clues. Frustrated over the lack of police assistance, she called the US embassy. “I don’t think they would have even taken the statement if the American Embassy had not called them,” Katie claimed.

Lucy, a 36 Irish woman, also talked to Minivan New about an attack, and a disappointing experience with the police, following a robbery and sexual assault she encountered last year.

She was attacked while walking up the flat’s staircase with two other female friends around midnight.

“The apartment was on the sixth floor and I was walking upstairs to my friends apartment. They were couple of steps ahead of me and I was walking up when, suddenly, a man came behind me and grabbed my breasts and tried to pull my clothes,” Lucy recollected.

“I go to the gym and I lift weights. But I couldn’t get him off. He was quite a large and it seemed he was under the influence of something. I hit him with my bag several times. He did not attempt to grab it and run. I think his intention was to pull off my clothes. By then my friends had heard the screams and came running downstairs. That’s when he released me and ran off,” she added.

Lucy however noted that the attack had not affected her as much as when she was robbed just weeks before the attack, and found the robbery to be the “worst ordeal”.

“My laptops and phone was stolen from my apartment. That was the worst ordeal because somebody broke into my room while I was sleeping,” she observed.

Thanks to her strong personality, Lucy said she managed to get over both attacks and visit Maldives again this year. However, she echoed others’ grievances over the lack of support from police.

“When police came to the flat the only response I got from them was ‘this never happens’. They did not take my statement or follow up on me. I don’t think the case was investigated,” she claimed.

Lisa, who earlier spoke to Minivan News, also complained over the lack of police professionalism after she reported the harassment on the street and added that it seemed “police did not the case seriously”.

Police Spokesperson Sub-inspector Hassan Haneef responded that police investigate all the complaints and officers who investigate foreigners cases are skilled and capable in communicating in English: “But we do face difficulties in communicating with Bangladeshi expatriates,” he said.

He noted that it was difficult to state whether harassment of foreign women was on the rise, but confirmed that such cases had been reported.

Haneef also urged women to report such attacks, assuring that complete investigations would be conducted.

Lisa, Clarice, Katie and Lucy say they are awaiting justice and for a day they can walk the streets without being teased, touched or assaulted. A day when they don’t have to be extra cautious on streets, scan around for possible stalkers or triple check their locks.

In the meantime all they ask from the local community is “not to assume we provoked the attacks and step in to help a woman being harassed”.

*Names changed

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Elections and “judicial interference” among key topics in president’s inaugural address

Pursuing parliamentary-mandated early elections and avoiding interfering with the country’s judiciary are among a number of social and economic commitments outlined in President Waheed’s first state of the nation address.

In a heated Majlis session that took place yesterday, Waheed was finally able to deliver his constitutionally-mandated address to open parliament after several unsuccessful attempts.

However, he was still forced to give the speech amidst loud heckling and vociferous protests from within the Majlis chamber by Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) supporters.

The MDP protests were designed to stymie parliamentary functions until a date was set for early elections amidst concerns over the legitimacy of the present government. These protests were condemned yesterday by Commonwealth Special Envoy Sir Donald McKinnon, whose organisation has backed early election calls.

Despite the interruptions, an unofficial transcript of the address can be found on the President’s Office website here.

The speech itself outlines some of the key policies that Waheed will hope to perform in his capacity as president.

Policies

These policies include measures for taxation, international relations and plans to “empower” the independence of institutions like the Majlis and the country’s judiciary by not “interfering” with their work.

Previous attempts to bring reforms to the Maldives courts, at least in line with certain international judicial standards, have proved a controversial issue in the recent political upheavals that saw former President Mohamed Nasheed “resign” from office in a move later alleged to be the result of a “coup d’etat.”

However, President Waheed used his speech to commit himself to constitutional rule, despite the “coup” allegations surrounding his rise to the country’s top office.

“My highest priority is to perform the duties of the president in line with the constitution and laws of the country,” read Waheed’s speech. “I assure you that I will not take any action that goes against the constitution or law. Neither will I interfere with the work of the Judiciary.”

Speaking to Minivan News today, President Waheed’s spokesperson Abbas Adil Riza said that the new government hoped to “strengthen” independent institutions like the parliament and the courts.

Riza claimed that over past three years, the executive branch under former President Mohamed Nasheed was often involving themselves in parliamentary and judicial affairs that were supposed to function independently as separate bodies under the constitution.

“We want to empower institutions not interfere with the decision they are taking,” the spokesperson said. “The president will give all the help he can to parliament. For instance on March 1, [a parliamentary session abandoned owing to anti-government protests in the chamber] President Waheed could have held the Majlis session with military officers to support him. Nasheed had done this in 2010 and 2011, but he chose not to. Even when he was being insulted.”

Beyond his own bodyguards, Riza said that President Waheed would not have any other external military forces in the Majlis.

Judicial interference

Amidst concerns over the independence and ethics of the nation’s judiciary by a former president-appointed member of national court watchdog, the Judicial Services Commission (JSC) as well as international bodies like the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) and the EU, the conduct of judges became a major issue of the Nasheed presidency.

Upon eventually coming under international condemnation for the arrest of Criminal Court Chief Judge Abdulla Mohamed, Mohamed Nasheed’s government then requested assistance from the international community to reform the judiciary over claims that national security was otherwise threatened.

Although Nasheed is no longer in office, Riza stated that the new government would continue to work with organisations and legal teams from the commonwealth and the EU on judicial reform and the proposed all-party roadmap talks.

“The president is liberal enough to take advice on these issues.”

Referring to providing early elections, one of the key aims of MDP protesters that have attempted to stop the president from giving his speech at the Majlis, Waheed said that if that if a presidential vote was “required” at an earlier date, he would begin work on constitutional reforms to support it.

“I will do everything in my power to bring together all the political leaders, to hold discussions on the matter,” he said.

Riza said that the use of the term “required” related to a mandate from parliament to hold fresh elections, though he stressed constitutional reforms were vital in ensuring that any leader elected in early polls would have a full constitutionally-mandated term of five years.

“If parties are not willing to have two elections in 18 months, clauses need to be amended and the legal mandate to do this can only be through parliament,” he said.

International relations

In regards to diplomatic relations, President Waheed said that his government aimed to protect the Maldives’ sovereignty and Islamic identity, whilst collaborating with foreign governments in areas such as preventing terrorism, piracy and arms smuggling.

“The government will accord a high priority to strengthen relations with countries that respect our sovereignty and are concerned about our national well-being,” the president stated. “One of the key objectives of our foreign policy is to secure foreign aid for economic and social development.”

In addressing what the comments could mean for the country’s existing relationships with international partners, particularly in regards to the previous government’s decision to open diplomatic relations with Israel, Riza said it was too early to tell at present.

“Our position is being reviewed right now on this. The foreign Minister is working on what line to take,”

The country’s relationship with Israel under Mohamed Nasheed was deeply unpopular among some sections of the public, who called for the government to withdraw plans to allow Israeli airliners to bring tourists to the country. Some political parties at the time alleged that the Nasheed government itself held a “zionist agenda”.

Among other key points raised within the speech transcript were calls for no one individual in the country to endanger the country to protect the interests of a “few”.

“Political stakeholders should work to ensure that Maldives is free from political turmoil and that citizens live without fear,” read the statement.

Addressing the number of violent clashes that have taken place between security forces and civilians since he came to power last month, Dr Waheed said there were significant costs to be recovered.

“State buildings were burned down and destroyed as a result of these unlawful acts,” the address read. “In Addu City and Huvadhoo Atoll, which were among the most affected areas, the cost of destruction to Island Councils, buildings under the care of these councils, homes of citizens, and police stations is currently estimated at more than Rf 180m.

In considering the country’s religious heritage, the president reiterated the Maldives’ status as a 100 per cent Muslim nation that did not afford for other religions to be practiced.

“The government will work to revive the spirit and strengthen the principles of Islamic faith among the people,” the president stated.

Addressing economic factors, Waheed stressed that the country was currently undergoing economic vulnerability with a deficit between state expenditure and state income said to currently amount to slightly over Rf3bn (US$200m)

“Estimates for 2012 indicate that the debt component of the current account in our Balance of Payments will increase by 11 per cent as compared to 2011,” stated the president. “With respect to GDP, debt of our current account will go up to 28 per cent. This figure in 2011 was 26 per cent. The main reason for this rise is the expectation that imports will increase, resulting in an increase in expenditure for these imports.”

Riza said that the government was not willing to increase the state budget further and would look to find methods to “live within in its own means.” In order to try and balance its books, the government said it was looking into further financial reforms with the aid of the private sector.

While not presently wishing to review taxation reforms, Riza stressed that the government would not be looking to increase the current 3.5 percent rate tourism Goods and Services Tax (GST) introduced last year as had been suggested by the Nasheed government.

In areas of trade, the president said he would look to strengthen opportunities for small and medium enterprises, while also trying obtain “reasonable” prices for a Maldives fisherman’s catch.

“Work is in progress to obtain the Marine Stewardship Council’s Certificate which will enable Maldivian fishermen to get a better price for fish caught through the pole-and-line method,” Waheed said. “Last year, a number of training programmes have been conducted with the aim of increasing the skills of farmers and achieve greater productivity in our agriculture industry. A special school is to be established in Laamu Atoll to conduct agricultural research and training.”

Tourism

As the country’s foremost source of income, President Waheed claimed that the current government had already achieved a number of positive results regarding tourism. He claimed that counter measures against travel advisories issued in some major tourism markets along with potentially unfavourable headlines were one such example.

“I plan to form a Tourism Advisory Board to determine policy directions for tourism and address the challenges currently faced by the tourism industry,”

Like his predecessor, the new president pledged to be outspoken internationally in regards to the plight small nations faced from the potentially destructive impacts of climate change.

“The government will encourage the voice of small island nations to be heard in the global arena with regard to climate change,” added the president. “The Maldives will always participate in voicing out concerns of small island nations”

Issues relating to housing, sanitation and health were also mentioned in the speech transcript.

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UK media reacts to Tourism Ministry charm offensive

UK media have been covering attempts by Tourism Minister Ahmed Adeeb Abdul Gafoor to restore confidence in the country’s tourism sector following recent negative headlines regarding political uncertainty in the nation.

Gafoor met with reporters in London last week to push the the message that the Maldives remains a safe destination for tourists – a fact echoed by the UK Foreign Office removing a travel warning against all but essential travel to the capital of Male’.

Reporting for The Daily Telegraph newspaper, journalist Oliver Smith said Gafoor addressed sections of the UK media claiming that the current government of President Mohamed Waheed Hassan took allegations of police brutality against protesters opposed to his leadership “very seriously”.

“While it is generally accepted that holidaymakers are unlikely to be caught up in any unrest, as most resorts are found on isolated, otherwise uninhabited islands, the moral implications of visiting the Maldives have been called into question following the downfall of Mr Nasheed,” Smith wrote for the paper.

“Human rights groups, including Amnesty International, have accused the new government of ordering police to violently suppress demonstrations.”

With a small band of protesters handing leaflets to reporters outside claiming that President Mohamed Waheed Hassan was working to undermine the country’s young democracy, the Telegraph reported that Gafoor saw this as a clear indication that human rights were being respected in the country.

“The fact that there are leaflets being handed to you outside shows how open we are,” he was reported as saying.

Beyond addressing the country’s political upheaval, the newly appointed tourism minister said that he hoped to continue to try to open up the country to emerging markets like China, whilst also pursuing more sustainable and community-based tourism projects.

“He [Gafoor] also sought to reassure visitors that the islands’ spas – briefly threatened with closure under President Nasheed, following pressure from Islamist groups – would remain open, and said that no moves to restrict the sale of alcohol in holiday resorts would be considered,” the newspaper added.

The minister also hit out at a travel advisory issued by the UK-based NGO Friends of Maldives.  According to the NGO, while the advisory aims to encourage travellers to continue holidaying in the Maldives, it does ask travellers to reconsider staying at a small number of resort properties that it alleges are directly involved in the controversial transfer of power to President Waheed last month.

“Mr Gafoor said he would not recognise the Friends of Maldives campaign and was bullish about the impact that recent negative publicity would have on visitor numbers. He said that a record one million holidaymakers were expected to visit the Maldives this year, including around 100,000 Britons,” the report added.

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Tourism Minister holds London press conference to reassure travellers

While the Maldives Tourism Minister hosted a press conference in London to soothe the fears of the tourism industry over the ongoing political instability in the Maldives, opposition activists distributed leaflets outside.

Former Maldives High Commissioner to the UK Dr Farahanaz Faisal distributed leaflets highlighting police brutality in the crackdown on demonstrators on February 8, while the Friends of Maldives NGO distributed its travel advisory highlighting the involvement of several politicians and resort owners in the change of government on February 7.

Monday’s professionally managed event was attended by 25 journalists from a host of prominent UK travel publications.

The Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) recently appointed Rooster Creative Public Relations Ltd as its official PR agent in the UK. MMPRC Acting Managing Director Mohamed Adam explained this decision.

“The purpose of having a full time PR and Marketing agency is to overcome the image that is continuously spoiling in the UK market due to the current political turbulence,” Adam said.

Adam’s aims were stymied somewhat by the presence of former Maldives High Commissioner to the UK Dr Farahanaz Faisal and the former Deputy High Commissioner, and brother of President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan, Naushad Waheed.

MDP supporters Farahanaz and Naushad took the opportunity to distribute leaflets focussing on police brutality in the Maldives. The leaflet described the Maldives as undergoing “one of the most painful and brutal periods of its history”.

Business as usual?

Despite the demonstrations outside, Tourism Minister Ahmed Adheeb Abdul Gafoor remained upbeat about the prospects of the Maldives tourism industry. The minister told Travel Weekly that he was expecting one million tourists to visit the country in 2012, breaking previous records.

He spoke of having visited tour operators during his trip who are eager to launch charter flights to the Maldives and begin new projects.

Referring to the demonstrations, he said, “The press conference was not affected by that. The journalists did not seem bothered. The press conference was a success.”

Former Tourism MinisterDr Mariyam Zulfa has expressed confidence in the sector’s durability, saying, “I don’t think that the political situation is actually affecting the tourism industry as such because Maldives is a well-established destination.”

This current government’s veneer of confidence, however, is belied by the hiring of the professional PR group to protect its image and by reports that bookings were down six percent  in February, according to Travel Weekly.

Speaking with Minivan this week, Dr Zulfa made clear the importance the MDP attributes to protecting the tourism industry.

“It has never been the MDPs intention and it will never be the MDPs intention to obstruct the progress that we have made in the tourism industry,” said Zulfa. “It’s not in our agenda to affect the traveller’s decision to choose Maldives as a destination at all.”

“But I think the tourist industry has a responsibility to provide correct information about Maldivian life in general.”

The awareness-raising efforts of the government’s opponents, indeed, do not appear to be registering with those travelling to the Maldives at present, supporting the views of Tourism Ministers past and present.

Asking the opinions of tourists at Ibrahim Nasir International Airport yesterday, the most common response was a vague notion that the Maldives had been in the news recently, without any specific details being recalled.

This was perhaps typified by the response of a couple from the UK who were asked how they felt about what was happening in the Maldives at the moment: “What is happening?” came the response.

Travel advisory

Also outside the press conference was David Hardingham, founder of Friends of Maldives (FOM), who distributed a second set of leaflets publicising his group’s travel advisory.

FOM is a UK based NGO focusing on the protection of human rights, the promotion of social justice and democracy in the Maldives.

The content of the FOM leaflet was interpreted by the Maldivian media outlet Sun Online as claiming that the Maldives was an unsafe travel destination. Newspaper Haveeru also reported that the NGO was advocating a “tourism boycott”.

Referring to Sun’s article Hardingham said, “Responsible journalism involves getting both sides of the story – so we were disappointed not to be asked by Sun for our views as their article is one sided, has factual errors and is somewhat misleading – however it’s not entirely surprising as its owners are known to be supportive of the recent coup.”

Hardingham forwarded the leaflet distributed by the NGO (page one, two), which lists resorts and businesses owned by Jumhoree Party (JP) leader Gasim Ibrahim’s Villa Group, and Bandos Island Resort and Spa owned by Vice-President designate Waheed Deen, and urges “responsible” travellers to avoid these resorts specifically.

“The current political turmoil in the Maldives has deterred people from visiting the islands. Friends of Maldives urges tourists to continue to visit Maldives, as tourism is the mainstay of the economy. We feel the situation is not so bad, as the airport and resort islands are not linked to any population centres,” the leaflet notes.

The leaflet goes on to recommend the travel advice of the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), which currently has no restrictions in its Maldives travel notice.

The FOM leaflet continues to briefly outline recent events in the Maldives before asking that potential tourists “consider the idea of being a responsible traveller” by avoiding resorts that are allegedly involved in “the subversion of democracy, and human rights abuses in the Maldives”.

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Q&A: Former Tourism Minister Dr Mariyam Zulfa

Dr Mariyam Zulfa is the former tourism minister of the Maldives, appointed by Mohamed Nasheed’s administration in November 2010. Prior to her appointment she was a Managing Partner with the law firm Duckham & Co, Lawyers. She holds a PhD from Curtin University in Australia, and in her thesis examined the competitiveness of small island tourism destinations. Dr Zulfa also holds a Bachelor of Arts in Urban & Regional Planning and a Masters of Business Administration (MBA), and has worked as a tourism law lecturer in Australia.

Daniel Bosley: What is the average resort owner thinking about the current political crisis in the Maldives and its impact on the economy?

Dr Mariyam Zulfa: I think everybody is in a state of shock at the moment because the turmoil in the country will definitely have an impact on the image of the destination. The [pro-government] forces are trying to paint the picture that there is a lot of violence in the country and that the violence is being instigated by the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), which is not true at all. All we are doing is holding peaceful demonstrations and calling for early elections in order to ensure the legitimacy of the government.

Our tourists come from developed countries and I think they have the maturity to understand that people have the right to freely express their views on political matters. In that sense I don’t think the resort owners should be very worried about tourists concerns as to whether the place is going to be safe or not. The resort owners like to say that the situation in the country is safe and I think it is so because the only thing we are doing here is expressing our views on the political situation, and that the current President has assumed his role after a coup.

DB: Have you had any questions from resort owners?

MZ: Not really no, because the government, as it should, has been spreading the message through its own PR machinery that the country is safe.

DB: How have different markets been reacting?

MZ: I am given to understand that many Germans, for example, and many people from the UK, are questioning the welfare of the people of Maldives and that is not necessarily a bad thing.

I have personally had a number of communications from interested persons, especially from Germany and the UK, asking what is happening in the country, and that is a good sign because the traveller is not a nameless faceless body that comes here. I think people who travel are also conscientious people who care about the well-being of the people of the countries that they visit. I would tend to think that the political concerns of a wide majority of the Maldivian people are indeed something worth listening to.

I’ve has quite an overwhelming number of emails and communications sent to me asking about what’s happening in the country and when a political resolution is going to be found, what they could do to help; because of course they will see on the media that a large number of people, including a large number of women,for the first time in the Maldives are demonstrating continuously about how unhappy they are with the coup-led government in the country.

I have also received many calls from the Maldives’ foreign investors who are concerned about the current situation.

The silly thing about what the government is trying to do is portray to the international media that there is violence in the country. Indeed, that is not the case, we are expressing our unhappiness about how undemocratic the coup is. A coup is a coup is a coup, and can never be accepted as something legal or legitimate. That is a message that I think needs to be understood by members of the travelling public who come to the Maldives.

DB: Do you think that there is a risk that resorts will trade their political support for short-term stability?

MZ: It’s not the MDP’s intention to interfere in any way with the economic gains that we have made in the tourist industry. Nevertheless, we say that some people in the resort industry were actually involved. We have information that could be used as evidence to say that some members in the resort industry were behind, for example, in financing the coup and so on. So, in that sense it is connected to the tourism industry. But it has never been the MDPs intention and it will never be the MDPs intention to obstruct the progress that we have made in the tourism industry.

But, having said that, I will say that it is our duty also to inform the travelling public that a wrong has been done unto the people of the Maldives and following from that, we provide the information about the political situation in the country so it is up to that traveller to either decide to do something about it or carry on with their decision to travel to the destination. It’s not in our agenda to affect the travellers decision to choose Maldives as a destination at all.

DB: Do you think the alleged involvement of some resort owners harms the image of all resorts?

MZ: Neither a formal nor an informal investigation has been completed so far but there is evidence to show – and material that can be used as evidence – that leads us to the conclusion that some people in the tourist industry have been behind at least the financing of some of the operations that led to the overthrow of President Nasheed [on February 7]. But I can’t categorically say exactly who was involved unless a formal investigation has been completed. Some in the industry were involved, not all. Amongst them were a couple of major players in the Maldives [tourism] industry.

DB: What did you think of the Friends of Maldives travel advisory, asking tourists to avoid particular resorts associated with these players?

MZ: I have actually not seen the Friends of Maldives advisory. I heard about it in the media to boycott the resorts of the alleged coup perpetrators, but my opinion is that it is not the MDP’s policy, it was something done by an organisation that wished us well and that their purpose would also have been to disseminate information about who were behind the activities that led to an illegitimate government coming into place. I would like to think it was done to spread information, not to deliberately harm the economy or hurt the industry in any way shape or form.

DB: What do you think of the government’s lease-extension and payment deferral decision?

MZ: The lease extension is about increasing the asset value of the properties. In the Maldives, all the islands actually belong to the government and when the second amendment to the tourism law came into place it gave the option for resorts to extend the existing 25 year leases to 50 years. A time period was given and there is a clause that stipulates that the payment must be done in completion before the lease period can be extended. So, the Nasheed government had interpreted that clause as the payment to be paid in full for the period extended. So, because the wording is such that the payment must be complete before the extension is granted, we interpreted it as the full payment.

But there is another clause which says the manner in which the payment is calculated is on an annual basis. This government has over-interpreted that clause and has said that the payment has to be made on an annual , but I have always insisted that the value of the government assets must not be allowed to decrease because the payments go to funding welfare services, housing projects, infrastructure projects, health services and so on that would benefit the local community.

The current government has not only allowed payment to be made  on an annual basis but for the payment to start at the end of the 25 year period, which is years away. It is a huge loss to the government treasury, about US$150 million, and I think as a result that a lot of people will be deprived of the many projects that we have started for the benefit of the communities across the atolls.

Furthermore, I have had news that the government has borrowed US$50 million on a sovereign bond. There is no need to resort to this kind of borrowing when resort investors could provide that money easily. The interesting thing about it is that many resort operators had actually agreed to lump-sum payments, and a lot of them had already done so, because people are very conscious of the fact that services have to be provided to the people and it is a way to support the government budget to do so.

I this noticed because some the influential people behind the coup perpetrators have been pressuring me for some time now to do this so, again, it’s not everybody in the industry but some who had a vested interest in deferring the payment.

Now of course they have the power to decide in any manner that they want and this was one of the first things that they did when they came into power.

DB: The government continues to emphasise the separation of tourism and politics. Is it a good idea to have such a divide between the politics/society and a country’s biggest source of income?

MZ: Tourism and politics have always been separate so I’m quite baffled as to why now they are saying this. It has never been the MDPs intention or any other political party’s intention to harm the economy in any way. So I’m surprised as to why this message is going out to separate tourism from politics. Even in my time at the ministry I have always maintained that Tourism Minister will never be colour coded and we have worked with all stakeholders who have come from all different parties. Even with the new projects we don’t look at anybody’s political background, it has always been very robust in this sense.

DB: With Nasheed’s interest in mid-market tourism as an example, is bringing broader societal issues into tourism something the MDP is interested in?

MZ: Yes, it cannot be any other way because the Nasheed government is about the people and with tourism and every other economic policy, we have strived to put in place a fair go for all. For example the small and medium loan schemes encouraged middle-scale businesses to go into fruitful operation and we tried in every way to encourage the small business owner and the medium SME owners to get ahead in life. Because our philosophy is to do things for the people as opposed to making the rich richer, so in that sense even in tourism we came up with the mid-market policy and the policy to develop guest houses and city hotels across the country especially as a source for more people from the community to participate in the tourist industry – that is our aim. It not anything political at all.

The only way this can be viewed as political would be now people who are already successful, multi-millionaires in the industry, will tend to think that if you spread it around too much their businesses might become shaky. But the way we designed it is not to disrupt the apple cart in any way.

We were always going to emphasise the fact that Maldives is a luxury destination. People who seek that sense of luxury actually come, that was always going to be our main theme when promoting the Maldives yet at the same time we had wanted for more people to be participating directly not only in the business side but from the benefits of tourism in the communities. And also of course we wanted more tourists to see more of Maldives at a value for money price.

The former tourism masterplan, which was effective until 2011, said that islands specifically selected by the government have to be put on tender. But the way the Nasheed government did it was to open up all the islands in the country again to deviate from making the rich richer kind of philosophy to opening up the country to whoever has the ability, ambition and drive to apply for a tourism development to do so.

It was perfectly legally-allowable because the tourism law states that you can do a joint development with the government, so for example the government owned five percent and the developer 95 percent, which was legally permissible. But the interesting thing is that the current administration is saying we were doing that in contravention of tourism law – that is not the case.

Article 5 of the tourism law actually says that a joint venture can be allowed with the government as a shareholder. That is what we were doing instead of making the already rich richer, we were opening the islands to everybody who wanted to apply and with the means to do so.

In the past when you put something on tender, the process is so complicated and costly you have to know the right people in the right places, so the average person who was desirous of joining the tourism industry was very far-removed from anything to do with moving towards successful application.

Equity is what the Nasheed government was about and providing more opportunities for the able person, not necessarily the well-connected person. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that approach so I don’t find it surprising at all when some of the already established enterprises in tourism are saying that these kinds of policies have been perpetrated by the Nasheed government for political reasons. It’s not for political reasons, it’s for reasons of equity.

DB: How do you see the political instability affecting tourism in the long run?

MZ: I don’t think that the political situation is actually affecting the tourism industry as such because Maldives is a well-established destination. The Maldives is a unique destination. You don’t find this kind of geographical competitive advantage in any other country. 1200 islands ringed into atolls, unique lagoons and beaches, the various shades of blue that make the islands so attractive. I have seen many tourists actually cry in amazement, it’s so beautiful.

The political situation is not going to affect the beauty that we have in the islands that we offer to the tourists. But I think the tourist industry has a responsibility to provide correct information about Maldivian life in general because I have had interaction from my experience as tourism minister that even the wealthiest tourists who come here are genuinely concerned about the well-being of the average person, they want to contribute financially and to better the life of the average citizen, and that is what the government was doing.

I think the tourism industry has the responsibility to provide information on the great wrong that had been done unto the average person of the Maldives which is denying them the government that has been legitimately installed through their vote.

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UK and Germany lift travel restrictions to the Maldives

The UK and Germany have lifted all travel restrictions to the Maldives, reports Sun Online.

Speaking to the press at Berlin’s ITB Fair, Tourism Minister Ahmed Adeeb said he had met with UK and German foreign office officials and the media, and had been able to assure safety for tourists in the Maldives.

“Our main message is that Maldives is a safe destination for tourists. We have given them this confidence. In the past three days, I met with senior officials and the media to give them this message and confidence. The results of it have been good. Because of it Germany has lifted travel advisory. So has the UK,” Adeeb told Sun Online.

The ITB Berlin Fair was held from March 7-11. The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) revised travel advice to the Maldives on March 8. The UK and Germany issued travel warnings to the capital Malé following the events of February 7, 2012.

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