‘We Must Work Together To Promote Hospitality And Tourism’

India and Maldives recently signed a Memorandum of Under standing (MoU) to promote intra-regional tourism within both countries. One of the key focus of that agreement is to further relations through hospitality projects. In conversation, Dr Mahamood Shougee, minister of tourism and civil aviation of Maldives tells Savio Rodrigues about the new developments

Maldives inked an agreement with India to promote intra-regional tourism. What led to this development?

India and Maldives have over the years shared a very cordial trade relationship. Tourism was undoubtedly one area where our trade relationships had the potential to reach the next level. In the year 2004, Maldives welcomed 10,999 tourists from India and by the end of July this year 5,694 tourists visited Maldives from India. We are certain that we would see over 12,000 tourist by the end of 2005. Similarly, India too has been witnessing a considerable rise in Maldivians tourists. Indian tourists contributed to 1.8 per cent of the total arrivals in 2004 and nearly 10 per cent of the total Asian arrivals in the Maldives.

The Maldivian tourism product now has the capacity to cater to the Indian travellers; particularly the middle and upmarket. It is expected that improvements in air access to the Maldives from India would speed up the growth of the Indian market.

What are the areas of prime importance touched upon in the MoU?

Increasing air connectivity between both countries, working together with travel agents and developing hospitality projects are areas of prime importance that form a apart of the MoU. We are in talks with India’s Ministry of Civil Aviation to increase the flight frequencies of the national carrier -Air India – to and from Maldives. Apart from that we are through the Ministry of Tourism (MoT), India in talks with leading Indian hotel chains keen in developing hotel projects in Maldives and likewise our leading hoteliers have been scouting for properties in India.

If Indian developers were keen to invest in hotel projects in Maldives, what would one need to do in terms of acquiring land, government restrictions?

Hospitality projects in Maldives are always developed through government and private sector participation. In order for a Indian developer to acquire land in Maldives, one would have to go through a bidding process that government conducts on regular basis. This bidding process involves the leasing out of a small island (as all hotel projects are small islands of their own) for a 30 year period which an Indian operator is free to bid for either a single entity or in a joint venture with the Maldives partner.

Many Maldivian hotel companies like the Villa Hotels group have been actively scouting for hotel projects in India, is the government actively supporting such endeavors?

Yes, the government actively supports expansion plans made by Maldivian hotel companies in the Indian market. In fact some hotel companies are close to setting up hotel projects in areas Kerala, Goa and Hyderabad. It is in the interest of both India and Maldives that hospitality, which is an integral part of the tourism industry and it is a platform to help tourism between India and Maldives.