Guesthouses increased by 70%; islands will develop: Minister

Tourism minister Dr Abdulla Mausoom said on Friday that the number of guesthouses and hotels in the Maldives has increased by 70% in the four years of the current government. 

Mausoom told Atoll Times that when the government came to power in 2018, there were a total of 533 guesthouses and 10,455 tourist beds in hotels in the Maldives. The minister said:

Mausoom said that the development shows the level of confidence in local island tourism among tourists and Maldivians. Noting that the government's efforts to promote island tourism have started showing results, Mausoom said Maldivians have now come to believe that island tourism can be promoted by respecting religion and traditions.

"These newly opened guesthouses will enrich the pockets of the common man. It will improve their lives and quality of life. The support of the people of the island is beyond what I could have imagined to promote tourism in the islands," he said.

Mausoom said the increasing number of beds in guesthouses and hotels was the beginning of a revolution. In the coming years, he said, tourism will see "development coming to the islands".

"Maafushi developed rapidly. We will see this change in rural areas," the minister said.

Notably , statistics from the tourism ministry show that the majority of guesthouse beds are located in Kaafu, Alifu Dhaalu, Alifu Alifu and Vaavu atolls. The next highest number of beds were in Noonu, Raa, Baa, and Lhaviyani atolls. 

Mausoom said that the challenge with the expansion of tourism in the Maldives is that Maldivians are not trained for tourism. He also said that resorts are already complaining about Maldivians not getting tourism jobs and are considering increasing the training of people.

"There are already a lot of Maldivians occupying senior positions in many resorts. In other places, they don't even have locals employed. So, if we want to increase the share of Maldivians in tourism, we need to train people in this sector," he said.