Maldives sets target to woo 3,00,000 Indian tourists in 2025

Male: The Maldives government has set a target of attracting 3,00,000 Indian tourists in 2025 after their number went from the top place in 2023 to sixth in 2024 following strained relations between Male and New Delhi. Maldives' Ministry of Tourism's statistics showed that Maldives received 20,46,615 visitors in 2024 compared to 18,78,543 tourist arrivals in 2023; China occupied the top slot followed by Russia in 2024. Indian tourists' visits to the archipelagic nation declined from January till about October last year with the number slowly rising thereafter.

Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) chairman Abdulla Ghiyas told a local news portal Adhadhu on Monday that monthly events will be held in India to achieve the goal of attracting 3,00,000 tourists.

"We are conducting it as a very big campaign. For the first time, we are targeting to hire a brand ambassador to advertise in the Indian mass media. We are also trying to hold cricket summer camps in Maldives," he said.

The MMPRC is also working with airlines, both Indian and Maldivian, to bring tourists from more destinations in India, Ghiyas said. They are targeting to fly from newer destination cities such as Kolkata, Pune, Chennai too, he added.

Post Covid-19 pandemic, Indian tourists occupied the top slot of arrivals to Maldives continuously from 2020 till 2023. However, Maldives faced a backlash from Indian tourists following derogatory remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi on social media by three Maldivian ministers. Their comments came after Modi posted photos and video of the pristine Lakshadweep Islands on India's west coast on January 6 on his X handle.

Indian tourists boycotted Maldives, travel agencies blacklisted the country and even after efforts by the tourism industry here, there were no improvements.

Following the diplomatic row between the two countries, the number of Indian tourists went down from 2,09,193 in 2023 to 1,30,805 in 2024 with the numbers per month rising very slowly only in the last two months after both India and the Maldives decided to reset the relations and President Mohamad Muizzu visited India in October.

The Maldives in the Indian Ocean is barely 70 nautical miles from the island of Minicoy in Lakshadweep and 300 nautical miles from the mainland's western coast.

Not just for tourism, Maldives is also India's key maritime neighbour and an important partner in India's 'Neighbourhood First' policy and PM Modi's Vision 'SAGAR', that is, Security and Growth for All in the Region.