Minister of Tourism, Dr. Abdulla Mausoom has revealed that the target is to have 2 million tourist arrivals to Maldives by 2023 as this year will mark the 50th anniversary of the tourism industry. He also stressed the importance of developing local island tourism and attracting more visitors through the joint work of island councils, travel agencies, guesthouse operators and the Ministry.
Speaking at the TTM Travel Summit 2020, the Minister said that the ministry has launched a website specifically targeted to promote local island tourism under the name, “islands.mv”. The website will provide detailed information about the attractions of the islands such as the culture and heritage, ecological features, cuisine and diving spots that are accessible near the island. Island councils will act as the marketing body for the island and will work with the guesthouses to attract more visitors.
The Minister highlighted that the industry partners are very creative and that the ministry wishes to give them the room to develop marketing tools that can further boost the arrival numbers to the island nation. He stressed upon the importance of being locally present on all platforms as this is the easiest way to connect with visitors.
“Our target is to have 2 million tourist arrivals to Maldives by 2023 as this year will mark the 50th anniversary of the tourism industry. The international connectivity will be diverted to the Southern and Northern airports instead on the central area. With the newly developed domestic airports, it has become easier to link transport routes. The Government is currently working on establishing a domestic transport network in Thiladhunmathi. Moreover, the capacity of the Velana International airport will be increased by 2023.”
Dr. Mausoom said that the Maldivian workforce are the champions of the industry. Without the commendable work and support of the workforce, Maldives would have not attained the global recognition.
“Our aim is to enhance the Maldivian workforce. We have long-standing employees in resorts but they lack the formal qualification required for the higher positions. As part of the government’s policy to empower the workforce, the Ministry intends to offer a program where the said employees can attend a few modules specifically structured for them. This will allow them to grab the new jobs which will be available to the market in the coming years.”
Dr. Mausoom expressed that in the future, the Ministry will venture into niche areas such as cultural and ecological tourism due to the emergence of ‘social impact travel’ integrated by travelers now.
