Maldives calls for tourism tie up

Shirajiv Sirimane

Sri Lanka and the Maldives will jointly promote the emerging tourism markets like China, said the visiting Maldivian Deputy Minister of Tourism, Abdul Hameed Zakariyya.

Speaking after the formation of a Sri Lanka Maldives Joint Task Force on Tourism at Sri Lanka Tourist Board yesterday he said that both countries have different produces to offer and a duel destination packages could be easily marketed.

The Deputy Minister said that while Sri Lanka offer nature culture, adventure, the Maldives offers beach. “We are not competitors and hence a two way destination package could be easily offered,” he said. Lanka offers attractive Ayurveda therapy.

The Minister also said that many Maldivian Hoteliers are keen to invest in Sri Lanka. “Already an investor had leased a land in the eastern province to construct a hotel,” he said. In addition, universal hotels in the Maldives too are looking at investing in Sri Lanka.

One of the major advantages both countries have is to jointly promote healthy air links. The Deputy Minister said that they thank Sri Lanka Hotel School for offering 25 positions to train their staff in Colombo.

The Maldives is also aiming to attract 650,000 tourists by the end this year. Last year the arrivals stood at 602,000 and their average stay was around eight days with each tourist spending around US $ 115 per day.

The Deputy Minister also said that the Sri Lanka Maldives Joint Task Force meetings were somewhat neglected mainly due to the tsunami. “However we will now continue with this programme,” he said.

Minister of Tourism, Milinda Moragoda and Maldives visiting Minister of Tourism and Civil Aviation Dr. Mahmood Shaugec had also discussed this proposal at a conference held at the Ministry of Tourism.

As part of the MOU signed in year 2004 by both countries, Maldives Tourism Promotion Board will support to campaign Sri Lanka as a tourist destination and Sri Lanka Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management will provide 25 scholarships to them to develop their human resources.

Deputy Minister of Tourism, Faizer Musthapha said that both the countries have decided to meet twice a year with the intention of promoting duel destination tourism.

He said that Sri Lanka would be also talking to the Maldives Tour operators’ with the intention of promoting Sri Lanka through them. “We are also hoping to offer special packages to the Maldivians as well,” he said.

He said Sri Lanka owns 12 per cent of the Maldives hotels and similar packages too could be offered to Sri Lankans.