Maldives to hold road shows in India to woo tourists back
tourists back to the Maldives, a major tourism body here has announced that it will hold road shows across key Indian cities. A full-blown backlash was directed at the Maldives following derogatory remarks against India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on social media by three Maldivian officials after Modi posted photos and video of the pristine Lakshadweep Islands on India's west coast on January 6 on his X handle.
Scores of Indians, including multiple celebrities, cancelled their reservations and dropped plans to visit Maldives. The tourism arrival statistics reflected how from being a top visitor country, India's position went down to first fifth and now at the sixth position after January.
According to the statistics by the Maldives' Ministry of Tourism, this year as of April 10, of the total 6,63,269 tourists arriving, China continued to lead with 71,995, followed by the United Kingdom (66,999), Russia (66,803), Italy (61,379), Germany (52,256) and India (37,417).
After discussions took place at a meeting held at the Indian High Commission in Male, MATATO said in a statement that they expressed their intention to collaborate closely with the Indian High Commission in Maldives to bolster tourism initiatives, Sun.mv news portal reported.
«In this trajectory, plans are currently underway to launch comprehensive road shows across key Indian cities and to facilitate influencer and media familiarisation trips to the Maldives in the upcoming months,» it said quoting from the statement.
«While India remains a
