How India Has Come to Become the Second Top Tourist Market to Maldives Since Border Reopening
I am pretty sure all of you have heard about the string of Bollywood celebrities vacationing in the country, by now.
Maldives and India – two countries which are geographically in the same vicinity - maintains one of the stronger bilateral relationship seen to the world. This makes the Indian tourist market extremely important to the Maldivian. Right now, however, it is definitely more relevant than ever as India has come to become the second top tourist market to the country since the travel ban was lifted. The latest statistics from the Ministry of Tourism shows that 5449 Indian Nationals had arrived in Maldives as of 19th November, inclusive of the celebrities, of course. But, what resulted in this?
Logically, the first answer which probably pops up to anyone’s mind will be the fact that the two are neighboring countries apart from showcasing a remarkable friendship. Or is it the fact that so many Bollywood celebrities hyped up the destination presence? It is a bit of this and that, yes, however, there is so much more to it.
Travel between India and Maldives have actually been made so convenient as a ‘travel bubble’ has been established between the two countries with the airlines; Air India, GoAir and SpiceJet, eliminating the requirements of a mandatory quarantine period.
There have also been major marketing campaigns instigated by MMPRC targeted towards the Indian tourist market in which Maldives has been promoted as a safe tourist destination in addition to highlighting aspects of the Maldives which would appeal to potential Indian tourists. Majority of such campaigns were launched in collaboration with name-worthy Indian partners. At present, Maldives is being marketed as the perfect honeymoon destination for Indian couples through WeddingSutra. An online brochure has also been disseminated detailing necessary information for tourists prior to travelling into the country.
Speaking at the TTM Travel Summit 2020, High Commissioner of India to Maldives, Mr. Sunjay Sudhir, highlights the Visa Free Agreement made between the countries as one of such reasons. He has also announced the High Commission’s commitment to see that the numbers keep rising.
So at this point, I wonder, is it possible for India to become the top tourist market to Maldives? Currently, Russia takes the lead by over 12k arrivals and counting. There is way more than the double the difference, but it is a possibility maybe sometime into the future.
It is also possible that if similar and more efforts are made to increase the destination presence of Maldives in other tourist markets, the numbers would increase their as well.