 "After visitor decline in 2024, Maldives aims to attract 3 lakh Indian tourists in 2025")
The Maldives government aims to attract 300,000 Indian tourists in 2025, after Indian visitors dropped from first place in 2023 to sixth in 2024 due to strained relations between Male and New Delhi.
According to a PTI report, citing local news portal Adhadhu, Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) chairman Abdulla Ghiyas said on Monday that monthly events will be held in India to achieve the goal to attract 3,00,000 tourists.
“We are conducting it as a very big campaign. For the first time, we are targeting to hire a brand ambassador to advertise in the Indian mass media. We are also trying to hold cricket summer camps in Maldives,” PTI quoted Ghiyas as saying.
Maldives welcomed 2,046,615 visitors in 2024, up from 1,878,543 in 2023. In 2024, China took the lead as the top source of tourists, followed by Russia, while Indian tourist numbers declined until around October, when they began to rise again, reported PTI, citing the Maldives Ministry of Tourism.
The MMPRC is collaborating with both Indian and Maldivian airlines to expand tourist access from more cities in India.
Ghiyas said they aim to establish flights from new destinations like Kolkata, Pune, and Chennai.
Since the Covid-19 pandemic, Indian tourists had consistently topped the arrival numbers in the Maldives from 2020 to 2023. However, relations soured following derogatory comments made by three Maldivian ministers on social media about Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsThis backlash took place after PM Modi shared photos and videos of Lakshadweep Islands on January 6 on his X account.
As a result, Indian tourists began to boycott the Maldives, with travel agencies blacklisting the archipelago. Despite efforts from the tourism industry, there were no significant improvements.
After the diplomatic tensions, the number of Indian tourists fell from 209,193 in 2023 to 130,805 in 2024. Only in the last two months have the numbers begun to rise slowly, following a mutual decision by India and the Maldives to mend relations, which included President Mohamad Muizzu’s visit to India in October.
With inputs from agencies
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