Although it was one of the countries most severely affected by the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami in December 2004, the Maldives is finally beginning to see signs of real recovery.
Dr. Abdulla Mausoom, Director General of the Maldives Tourism Promotion Board (MTPB) told delegates at a World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) seminar, held in the capital Male that in the first two months of 2006, international tourist arrivals increased by 35% over the same two months in 2005, with some sources performing well above average. One of these was China, whose arrivals count was 14 times higher than in January-February 2005.
China is one of two new emerging markets, with Russia, on which the Maldives is counting heavily to reduce its dependence on traditional sources in the future – hence the request of the Maldives Government, and specifically the Deputy Minister of Tourism, Mr. Abdul Hameed Zakariyya, for UNWTO to organise the seminar on New and Emerging Markets – China and Russia, in order to discuss the two source countries' growth potential.
In his welcome speech to the UNWTO team, which was led by Mr Xu Jing, UNWTO Regional Representative for Asia and the Pacific, Mr. Zakariyya expressed his gratitude to UNWTO for “having accepted our invitation to enrich the knowledge of Maldivian hoteliers and tour operators and help us better cater to new and developing markets.â€Â
Learning how to tap these new sources of tourism is especially important, the Deputy Minister said, because of the huge increase in bed capacity coming on line in the Maldives over the next few years. A further 35 islands are to be leased for development, adding some 5,000-7,000 beds, which will take the total bed count to 23,000 by between end-2007 and mid-2008.
The two-day seminar provided detailed trends on outbound travel from China and Russia, including socio-demographic trends expected to impact on travel demand. Particular emphasis was placed on leisure trends to competing sun & beach destinations.
"The Maldives was granted 'approved destination status (ADS) by China in 2002 and, as a result, saw an average growth rate of 67% in 2003 and 2004," said Ms Xu Fan, UNWTO China expert. "Numbers are still small, but demand is expected to grow significantly in future," she added. " The Maldives is regarded as a pearl in the Indian Ocean because of its beautiful archipelago, coral reefs and maritime climate."
Ms Xu Fan's optimism was shared by Mr Sun Changwei, the Executive General Manager of CYTS (China Youth Travel Service) Outbound Travel Service, one of the leading tour operators from China to the Maldives, who talked about how to market sun & beach holiday products to the Chinese.
"In 2004, CYTS organised the first charters to the Maldives in the three Golden Weeks, with three flights in each week," said Mr Sun. "The first charter flight had 400 seats, which were sold out in just two days, which clearly shows the level of interest in the destination."
Presentation of the Russian outbound travel market and its likely growth for the Maldives was made by UNWTO expert, Ms Nancy Cockerell. While demand from Russians for holidays in the Maldives remained high in 2005, even in the months following the tsunami, Ms Cockerell said, growth was hampered by a lack of airline capacity, since most charter carriers and some scheduled airlines suspended or reduced services in the aftermath of the disaster.
Ms Cockerell also stressed the need to research the market to gain a better understanding of the Russian outbound leisure traveller. "It is not one homogenous market," she said, "since they range from the extremely rich, upmarket travellers to the newly emerging middle classes in search of a more affordable product.
"It is important to cater to all levels of demand," she added.
“There are clearly a number of challenges for the future,†Mr Xu Jing noted in summing up the two days of presentations and discussion, “not least because we are living in a changed world. There is no longer any normal year for tourism – each one is filled with different crises and/or disasters. And we need to learn to live with them."
Nevertheless, the seminar proceedings demonstrated clearly that, despite a continuing shortage of direct airline access, not to mention rising prices and inadequate bed capacity at peak periods, both markets are expected to gain significant share over the foreseeable future. |