POLITICAL violence in the Maldives has "tarnished" the Indian Ocean
archipelago's image as one of the world's top luxury resort destinations, a
senior tourism body official warned Thursday.
Although resort managers and tour agents have reported only a small
number of cancellations, the unrest that followed the ousting of president
Mohamed Nasheed on Tuesday has begun inching closer to key tourist
infrastructure.
"The violence has tarnished our image, we have become just another
Middle East country with violence on the streets," Mohamed Sim Ibrahim, the
secretary general of the Maldives Association of Tourism Industry, told AFP.
"All these negative headlines on political turmoil hurt our
international partners and foreign investment in tourism. Tourists can go
anywhere for a holiday, they don't have to come here," Ibrahim said.
Around 850,000 mostly high-end tourists visited the Maldives last year,
drawn by the tropical resorts built on small uninhabited islets surrounded by
coral reefs and crystal-clear turquoise waters.
The country was voted the world's number one island destination by
readers of Conde Nast Traveller in 2011.
The tourist sector accounts for one third of the Maldives' gross
domestic product (GDP) and more than 60 percent of foreign currency earnings.
The unrest of recent days was initially confined to the capital, Male,
a city most travellers never see as they transit immediately from incoming
flights to seaplanes or boats that whisk them off to their resorts.
"Most holidaymakers appear to be unaffected," said Mohamed Muiz, a local
employee of the Kurumathi Island resort, 35 miles (56 kilometres) west of Male.
"There is no panic. Very calm. Like us, the guests follow the local
news on the Internet or foreign cable TV channels," said Muiz.
Nevertheless, Australia, Britain, Germany and the United States have
all issued travel advisories on the Maldives, along with China whose citizens
now account for around 25 per cent of foreign visitors.
The violence has since spread from Male to the country's outlying
atolls.
The army was deployed Thursday in the Maldives' second-largest city
Addu where troops secured Gan Airport, another key staging post for tourists
flying to outlying islands.
"Tourists flying directly off to the resorts would be safe, but nobody
should come into the city proper," Addu City Mayor Abdulla Sodig told AFP,
saying there had been a "complete breakdown" of law and order.
Ibrahim Mohammed, front officer at the Taj Exotica & Spa eight
kilometres (five miles) south of Male, said the resort had suspended its usual
day excursions to Male for guests wanting to do some shopping and sightseeing.
"Instead, we take them to the local islands," Mohammed said.
A group of suspected hardline Islamic activists had stormed the
National Museum in Male on Tuesday and smashed a number of ancient Buddhist
statues.
Ahmed Salih, permanent secretary at the Ministry of Tourism and
Culture, insisted that there was no direct threat to the resort seekers.
"The tourism industry is functioning normally. Tourists are not leaving
the island. Their safety is our first priority," Salih said.
An aerial view shows a resort island at the Male Atoll, Dec 7, 2009.
A waiter prepares the table at a restaurant at a resort on an island at Har
Alif Atoll, Dec 12, 2009.
Clouds move over an uninhabited island at Addu Atoll, Dec 10, 2009.
An aerial view shows a resort island at the Male Atoll, Dec 7, 2009.
An aerial view shows an atoll in the Maldives, Dec 9, 2009.
Trees stands close to the waterfront at a resort island at the Male Atoll, Dec
7, 2009.
An aerial view of a resort island in the Maldives, Dec 9, 2009.
Clouds move over an island at Har Alif Atoll, Dec 12, 2009.
