With the Maldives badly needing foreign exchange to meet its basic needs, President Mohamed Muizzu is bending over backwards to woo Indian tourists, whose numbers have fallen due to the diplomatic standoff earlier this year.
In 2023, India was the biggest source market for Maldivian tourism, accounting for over 11% of the 1.8 million tourist arrivals. However, by July 2024, India had dropped to No. 6 with 71,381 arrivals, a 42.5% decrease from the previous year. Currently, the highest number of tourist arrivals are from China, with 228,000 Chinese visitors having visited the Maldives so far this year. Russia accounts for 166,000 arrivals, the UK for 128,000, Germany for 110,000, and Italy for 107,000.
Be that as it may, by August 2024, India and the Maldives had ended the estrangement. India offered the Maldives much-needed financial relief and other incentives, mainly to keep rival China at bay. However, India is simultaneously trying to develop the Lakshadweep Islands, off the Kerala coast, as a competitor to the Maldives, although this was initially a knee-jerk reaction to the “India Out” campaign in the Maldives.
Those in the Indian tourist trade say that Lakshadweep is too small, too undeveloped, and too ecologically fragile to challenge the Maldives, which is a well-developed and established international tourist destination.
But the Maldives is not taking India’s challenge lightly, tiny as Lakshadweep may be. On 9 October, President Muizzu held a networking event in Mumbai to promote Maldivian tourism. The event was attended by a number of Bollywood celebrities, including Shilpa Shetty, Arbaaz Khan and his wife Shura Khan, Sunny Kaushal, Sonakshi Sinha and her husband, actor Zaheer Iqbal, and Karisma Kapoor. All of them, except Karisma, have visited the Maldives in the past and expressed their love for the country.
President Muizzu extended a special invitation to shoot Bollywood movies in the Maldives to promote it as a tourist destination. He stated that the Maldives had been the “World’s Leading Destination” for four consecutive years and attributed this to the trust that travellers from all corners of the globe had in the country. In 2023, the Maldives welcomed tourists from over 180 countries. The Maldivian government aims to reach the target of 2 million tourists by the end of 2024.
“Our pristine beaches, luxurious resorts, and unmatched hospitality have been the cornerstone of our success and India has been a key partner in this journey. For many Indian travellers, the Maldives has become not just a destination, but a haven where they can unwind, recharge, and create cherished memories,” the President said.
According to the Maldivian media, President Muizzu went on to say that given that Indian travellers are increasingly seeking new and diverse experiences, the Maldives is ready to meet this demand with niche segments such as ecotourism, wellness tourism, MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, Exhibitions) tourism, and film tourism.
In 1972, the Maldives started with just two resorts, with a capacity of around 280 beds. But soon backpackers and adventure seekers flocked to it, attracted by its unspoilt, palm-fringed beaches and calm turquoise-blue waters. Honeymooners found it to be the isolated getaway they had dreamed of. It did not take long for the idyllic atolls to grab the attention of celebrities, especially Bollywood stars. Westerners seeking warm waters as a change from their cold and wet countries made a beeline to the Maldives. Chinese and Indian tourists provided the much-needed numbers.
Beginning with the regime of President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, successive Maldivian governments have been innovating the facilities on offer. The “One Island, One Resort” concept was a masterstroke. This gave each island resort exclusivity and its guests a sense of having their own domain. It appealed to top-end tourists from affluent countries and brought in the dollars in quantities that mattered.
There are underwater restaurants from where one can watch marine life while dining. Glass-bottomed spa rooms are perched above coral reefs. Arriving by private seaplanes gives visitors a sense of class. Divers explore the depths of the ocean, uncovering underwater caves and coral reefs.
The Maldives offers visa-free arrivals to its major source markets, which include India, Russia, and China. As of 17 January 2024, there were 180 resorts, 15 hotels, 811 guesthouses, and 140 safari vessels offering a total of more than 62,000 beds. For the less affluent, there are guesthouses on inhabited islands that provide a peek into Maldivian village life and village cuisine. 39 airlines bring tourists.
The Maldives has a detailed blueprint for development called the Fifth Tourism Master Plan 2023-2027 (5TMP), created with the assistance of the Asian Development Bank (ADB). It incorporates the recommendations of the UN Sustainable Development Goals and international best practices. The aim is to double income from tourism to US$6 billion by 2027. The 5TMP envisages a 50-60% increase in accommodation and a 25-40% increase in international air connectivity.
As per the 5TMP, many resorts have embraced eco-friendly practices, establishing coral rehabilitation programmes, installing solar power systems, and implementing waste management strategies. The Maldives has taken a pledge to be carbon-neutral by 2030.
Lakshadweep
As stated earlier, when the Maldivian government became hostile to India and launched the “India Out” campaign, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi personally promoted the Lakshadweep Islands off the coast of Kerala as an alternative destination for Indian tourists.
“Those who wish to embrace the adventurer in them should travel to Lakshadweep,” he said, and he suddenly arrived at Lakshadweep and had himself photographed and videoed in various poses. These images were flashed all over by the Indian media. The Indian travel agents stopped bookings for the Maldives and promoted Lakshadweep. Bollywood also jumped into the fray.
Lakshadweep is a group of 36 coral islands with a total area of only 32sq km. The islands are located between 220km and 440km from Kochi in Kerala. Lakshadweep is an archipelago consisting of 12 atolls, three reefs, and five submerged banks. The inhabited islands are Kavaratti, Agatti, Amini, Kadmat, Kiltan, Chetlat, Bitra, Andrott, Kalpeni, and Minicoy. Bitra is the smallest of all, having a population of 271 persons, while Bangaram has a population of only 61.
Among the inhabited islands, Kavaratti has a capacity of 243 cottages. Bangaram, which Prime Minister Modi visited, has the largest carrying capacity of 200 cottages. According to India Tourism Statistics for 2019, 10,435 domestic tourists and 1,313 foreign tourists visited Lakshadweep in 2018; 6,620 and 1,027, respectively, in 2017.
This is minuscule in comparison with arrivals in the Maldives. However, there is scope for increase. The marine fauna are plentiful, and water sports activities such as scuba diving, windsurfing, snorkelling, surfing, kayaking, canoeing, water skiing, yachting, and night voyages into the sea could be developed. Tourists can come to Lakshadweep throughout the year, except during the southwest monsoon months when the seas are extremely rough.
But the fragility of Lakshadweep’s ecology has been a major concern. In May 2012, the Indian Supreme Court appointed a panel under retired Justice R V Raveendran to look into the environmental and developmental challenges on the islands. The report noted the “fragile ecology of the islands and the need for conservation of the corals, lagoons and other ecosystems” and laid down the “carrying capacity” of each island.
The Raveendran committee recommended that all infrastructure development proposals be in accordance with an Integrated Island Management Plan and should be implemented in consultation with elected local self-government bodies.
However, people who have been living on the islands for generations are opposed to the administration behaving “as if the land belongs to the government,” media reports said. Lakshadweep Administrator Praful Patel has faced protests for his development initiatives, and local groups obtained a stay on some of the works from the Kerala High Court.
“Even if you want to develop the islands, there is not much land available,” former Member of Parliament for Lakshadweep Mohammed Faizal Padippura told Indian Express. Additionally, even Indian citizens require an entry permit issued by the Lakshadweep Administration to visit. Only bona fide Lakshadweep residents don’t need a permit. This is a cumbersome requirement.
A small 72-seat aircraft flies between Kochi and Agatti, often only once a day. Seven passenger ferries ply between Lakshadweep and Kochi, but the passage takes 14 to 18 hours. The ships together can carry 2,100 people, but not all five ships are available every day. Only about 1,500 to 1,900 seats would be available at a time, and only a few ships have some seats reserved for tourists, Faizal said. Local people complain this is inadequate even for their requirements.
Lakshadweep is looking to attract low-volume but high-end tourism.
Indeed, making Lakshadweep a challenger to the Maldives is a far cry.