In a move aimed at enticing Indian tourists back to the Maldives, a prominent tourism body has declared its intention to conduct road shows across major Indian cities.
Amid a dwindling number of Indian visitors to the Maldives, the Maldives Association of Travel Agents and Tour Operators (MATATO) engaged in discussions with India's High Commissioner, Munu Mahawar, to explore opportunities for enhancing travel and tourism cooperation between the two nations.
The Maldives faced significant backlash following disparaging remarks made against India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on social media by three Maldivian officials.
The remarks came after Modi shared images and videos of the pristine Lakshadweep Islands on his social media platform on January 6.
In response, numerous Indian tourists, including several celebrities, cancelled their bookings and abandoned plans to visit the Maldives. This led to a notable decline in India's position as a top visitor country, plummeting from first to fifth, and now settling at the sixth position post-January.
According to the statistics by the Maldives’ Ministry of Tourism, this year as of April 10, of the total 6,63,269 tourists arriving, China continued to lead with 71,995, followed by the United Kingdom (66,999), Russia (66,803), Italy (61,379), Germany (52,256) and India (37,417).
After discussions took place at a meeting held at the Indian High Commission in Male, MATATO said in a statement that they expressed their intention to collaborate closely with the Indian High Commission in Maldives to bolster tourism initiatives, Sun.mv news portal reported.
“In this trajectory, plans are currently underway to launch comprehensive road shows across key Indian cities and to facilitate influencer and media familiarisation trips to the Maldives in the upcoming months,” it said quoting from the statement.
“While India remains a crucial tourist market to the Maldives, MATATO states they look forward to partnering with prominent travel associations and industry stakeholders across India to further promote the Maldives as a premier travel destination,” it said.
The Association also attributed its meeting with the Indian High Commissioner as “a testament to MATATO's continued dedication to fostering robust tourism ties between the Maldives and India,” which it said, will pave the way for “transformative collaborations to drive sustainable growth in the region's tourism sector.”
Earlier before this diplomatic row erupted, Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu had, within hours of taking oath last November, asked India to withdraw its 88 military personnel from the country, saying their presence was a threat to his country’s sovereignty.
Muizzu, known for his pro-China leanings, has announced that no Indian military personnel, even in civilian clothes, would be present in Maldives after all 88 personnel are repatriated by May 10.
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