'Welcome India' event a 'hit'; Indian market to become third: Faisal

The Welcome India tourism promotional event held in three Indian cities last week was a huge success and gave the green light to take the Indian market to number three from the tourist arrival markets to the Maldives, tourism minister Ibrahim Faisal said on Thursday.

Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) and Maldives Association of Travel Agents & Tour Operators (MATATO) jointly held the Welcome India event in New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore to remedy the decline in Indian tourist arrivals since the controversy surrounding defamation of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi by several government deputy ministers.

After the event, Faisal told reporters at the MMPRC office on Thursday that the Welcome India event received a lot of attention from the tourism industry in the country. The event also drew the attention of the country's media, he said.

According to him:

"The Welcome India roadshow was a big hit in Indian media as well. The attendance was very good. Our own groups like Sun Siyam Resorts also found good clientele. It went very, very positively," Faisal said, noting a 42% drop in tourist arrivals from India this year.

"With this move, there is a lot of hope that we will hopefully take India to the top three this year."

Faisal said if everyone works together, India will be among the top three tourist destinations. Noting that India is the closest and most promising market to Maldives, Faisal said millions of tourists from the country travel to different countries around the world every year but Maldives does not attract tourists from that country.

However, the aim is to increase the number of tourists coming to Maldives from India to a million within the next five years, he said. Some of the things planned to be done are:

"Next week will see India-Maldives relations improving even more. With this and these efforts, we cannot help but take India to three. We will still go to India once again with our work," Faisal said.

Faisal said he also met a very large Indian tour operator who had stopped booking for Maldives. He also expressed hope that the company would reopen bookings in Maldives.

The minister said the government's current aim is not to be at odds with India. Instead, it is the policy of President Mohamed Muizzu to work together with all countries, he said.

"It was the vision of a previous president among us to be at odds with some countries. President Muizzu's vision is to work together with all countries. So, tourism is also a way of connecting one country to another," Faisal said.

Faisal said that Indians coming to Maldives and Indians investing in Maldives will soon be able to transact in Indian rupees. Services such as Rupee cards will be launched in Maldives, he said.