Tourism Minister holds discussion with Indian High Commission on ways to boost Indian tourist arrivals

The Tourism Minister of Maldives, Dr. Abdulla Mausoom has held discussions with the High Commissioner of India to the Maldives H.E. Sunjay Sudhir.

According to a tweet by the Ministry of Tourism, the discussion involved increasing Indian tourist arrivals to the Maldives and networking between Indian investors and Maldivian SMEs. In addition to that minister also discussed human resource development for the tourism sector. The ministry has yet to release more information on the discussions.

Last month the Maldive and India have signed an agreement to create an “Air Travel Bubble” to facilitate the movement of people between the two countries. This is the first Air Travel Bubble established in South Asia and it includes a safe corridor for flights provided by the local authorities where the tourists can travel straight to their respective resorts from the airport without any hassle, in absence of quarantine restrictions. With the agreement, a total of five weekly flights are now operating between the countries, which includes Maldivian airline, Indigo, and Air India airline. Maldivian and Indigo operate weekly two flights while Air India operates one flight per week.

Earlier this month, Minister also held a virtual meeting with ⁦Jyoti Mayal, President of Travel Agents Association of India, and Mr. Anoop Kanuga, Chairman of the India Tourism Council, to discuss the ways to best reap the opportunities of the India-Maldives Air Travel Bubble.

India is one of the key international tourist markets in the Maldives. In 2019, India was the fastest-growing source market for Maldives tourism with a staggering annual growth of 83.5%, to reach 166,015 from 90,474 in 2018.