Maldives expands tourism to luxury real estate
A new luxury wellness resort in Maldives has recently announced open-for-sale of its 68 luxury villas. The opportunity is open for locals as well as tourists who wish to own villa in Maldives without having stress on its management or maintenance. Under the business model the villa owner gets a generous stay period to spend holiday and the resort would sell the villa to tourists during other periods to generate income to the villa owner. A portion of income goes to resort for managing the entire operation while the villa owner earns his Return On Investment. The recent opportunity was announced by the resort called Joali Being, in Raa Atoll.
Joali Being was opened in 2021 and has received multiple international awards over the years and is widely recognized as one of the world’s best wellness destinations. A travel expert from Forbes once visited several Maldives islands to inspect and his personal comments stood out in favour of Joali Being as a resort that made an impact. But, Joali Being is not the only resort where you can buy and own a luxury villa. Several years ago the well known Soneva Group initiated the program and had sold several villas. The market prices vary from $3.5m to $10m. A local source in Maldives mentions that pricing at Joali starts at $5m for single bedroom villas and gets higher with multiple bedroom options. Joali Being is comprised of 33 Beach Villas and 35 Water Villas. Investors can buy from both categories.
More real estate options are believed on the way as multiple new resorts are planned to be opened next year. One them is called Zamani Islands which contains several private islands near the main resort. Even though the company has so far never announced sale of individual islands it may very well end up in hands of billionaires who often fly to Maafaru Internatioonal Airport in their private jets. Zamani Islands being located close to Maafaru airport this opens up the possibility for jet owners to own their private retreat in Maldives without having to think of management and operations.
Another international hotel brand called Aman has acquired an island in Vaavu Atoll with a massive lagoon that stretches to several miles. Some reports say the company has planned to reclaim 16 private islands in the lagoon. This again suggests the Maldives tourism industry has taken a step into luxury real estate.
According to details on Maldives Finest a massive lagoon in Meemu Atoll is currently owned by a local Maldivian investor. The shallow lagoon is massive and could easily create over a dozen private islands. Dredging costs will be lower when the lagoon is shallow. In absence of plans for this location it may be fair to assume that this location is still available for investors seeking opportunities in the Maldives. A local travel company that also consults in island sale and villa ownership suggests this location one of the best opportunities currently open for investors. Location plays a vital in terms of success as logistics is costly and tourists do not want to travel too far within the country. A domestic airport is under construction in Meemu Atoll while seaplanes regularly fly to this region.
Maldives Finest is managed by a local travel company known as Priority Maldives that is specialized on luxury tourism, including expensive airport service packages for ultra luxury tourism. While the Maldives is well known as a top honeymoon destination it has recently won the award of World’s Leading Destination. This marks the 5th consecutive achievement of the same award since 2021. The ward was received by the Minister of Tourism Ibrahim Faisal on 24 November 2024 in Portugal.
