Maldives tourism minister sees sharp drop in UK visitors

Overall the past year, the Maldives have seen a sharp decline in the number of visitors from the UK, according to a statement by the Maldives tourism minister.

Published figures for July of this year show a significant drop of 18.9 per cent in the number of British tourists, when compared with July of 2007. The Maldives saw an overall decline in tourist numbers of 6.6 per cent as compared to the same month the last year.

This drop is the largest experienced by the island group since 2004, in the aftermath of the tsunami, which killed 82 in the Maldives and caused severe flooding of the country’s capital, Male. The current decline is being blamed on delays in construction, the high cost of fuel and the global economic downturn.

The Maldives is a popular destination for honeymooners, and normally attracts at least 100,000 Brits annually.

The Maldives tourism minister, Abdulla Mausoom, has commented that he is optimistic that the downturn will be short-lived. He also noted that Chinese and Russian visitor numbers had increased by 24 and 63 per cent, respectively, in the past year.

This past week, the tour operator Kuoni announced that the Maldives had become its second-most popular holiday destination, with bookings rising 20 per cent over 2007.

The Maldives have seen a number of new resorts opening in 2008, and an additional 63 are under construction. A plan to lease another 31 islands for resort development will not proceed, however, according to the finance ministry.

www.visitmaldives.com