New Delhi: Several posts by now-suspended Maldivian deputy ministers attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi and India will impact outbound tourism from India to the island nation in about 15-20 days, experts in the travel and tourism industry told ThePrint Monday.
According to data available till 27 December, 2023, Indians were the largest nationality visiting Maldives, known as a luxury destination, the number of Indians travelling to the archipelago nation has steadily declined after the highs of 2021.
There have been no cancellations of trips at the moment, but the number of inquiries and new bookings have reduced, said Rajiv Mehra, president of the Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO), the apex body of inbound tour operators in India.
“The impact of a drop in outbound bookings to Maldives will be felt in 15 to 20 days,” Mehra told ThePrint.
Waves of criticism, outright condemnation and online trend “#BoycottMaldives” have besieged the island nation following the harsh response by three of their deputy ministers — now suspended — to a post by Modi on X where he asks people to visit Lakshadweep. Modi visited the Union territory last week.
While there was no mention of Maldives in the post, the island nation’s deputy ministers Abdulla Mahzoom Majid, Mariyam Shiuna and Malsha Shareef offered their “thoughts” on the matter. Their tone indicated that they viewed Modi’s post as a challenge to their tourism, forcing the Maldives government to immediately distance itself from the trio.
Shiuna, a deputy minister of youth empowerment, information and arts purportedly called Modi a “clown” and a “puppet of Israel”, while Majid posted a video of open defecation in India and tagged the Indian PM, writing: “this is your culture”.
While Shiuna and Majid’s posts have been deleted, the issue snowballed to Indians reportedly cancelling plans to visit the nation. Travel agency EaseMyTrip even suspended bookings to Maldives.
Till 27 December, 2023, Indians accounted for the highest number of tourists to Maldives, with 2,06,026 visiting the nation. Russians were the second highest, with 2,04,043 arrivals between January and 27 December, 2023, according to the Maldives tourism ministry.
Maldives a ‘luxury’ destination
Incidentally, the number of Indians travelling to the archipelago nation has steadily declined after the peak in 2021, when 2,91,787 Indians visited Maldives — the largest nationality that year.
There were two reasons for this. Sri Lanka-based tour operator Saras Mohan, managing director of Mars Holiday, said the 2021 bump was a result of Maldives being the first nation after Covid to open up to tourists.
“Maldives had minimal restrictions which drew a large number of Indians to visit the country that year,” Mohan said.
The 2021 bump can also be explained by the fact that travel to third countries such as Dubai, the US and Canada from Maldives were easier as it had lesser pandemic restrictions than those travelling from India.
In 2022, however, the number fell by 17.3 percent to 2,41,382 Indian tourists.
Pre-pandemic, too, in 2019, a total of 1,66,030 Indians had visited the island nation, according to the Maldivian tourism ministry.
Today, Maldives has positioned itself as a “luxury destination” with a full package during the December-January peak season at a 3-star beach villa costing roughly Rs 1,50,000 per person from Delhi, Mohan said.
In the off-season (June-July), the figure is roughly Rs 1,10,000 per person for those travelling from Delhi.
These high prices have made other nations, like Sri Lanka, more attractive to Indians, Mohan said. “A room at a 5-star property in Sri Lanka would cost $100 to $150 a night in comparison to a 3-star property in Maldives charging upwards of $400,” he said.
IATO’s Rajiv Mehra agreed with Mohan, adding that Indians were now “choosing” to travel elsewhere as other destinations have slowly opened up. He said international tourism had also eaten into India’s domestic pie, which did well during the immediate post-pandemic years.
(This is an updated version of the report.)
(Edited by Tikli Basu)
Also read: Maldives suspends deputy ministers after posts attacking India, Modi spark furore