There has been a noticeable decrease in the number of tourists traveling from India to the Maldives due to the continuing political difficulties.
India is currently ranked fifth on the list of nations from which tourists arrive in the island nation of the Maldives, according to data made public by the ministry of tourism in that country. According to research, throughout the last three years, over 2 lakh Indians have traveled to the Maldives annually, more than any other country since the COVID-19 outbreak.
But now that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has visited Lakshadweep earlier this month, the popular Indian holiday destination is seeing a backlash after three Maldivian government ministers made negative comments about him. However the three deputy ministers were punished by the Maldivian government for their criticism of Modi’s post on ‘X’ after his visit to Lakshadweep, which was interpreted as an attempt to position the Union Territory as a tourism destination other than the Maldives.
The Maldivian government’s official statistics show the order of countries based on arrivals within the islands as follows:
- Russia (10.6% market share)
- Italy (10.4% market share)
- China (9.5% market share)
- UK (8.4% market share)
- India (8.0% market share)
More than 2.4 lakh Indian tourists visited the Maldives in 2022, compared to over 2.11 lakh in 2021. One of the few nations that allowed foreign visitors during the pandemic was the Maldives, where around 63,000 Indians traveled at that time.
Mohamed Muizzu, the president of the Maldives, outlined intentions to secure imports of necessary consumables, medications, and food items from other nations in an effort to lessen the nation’s reliance on India. “No one’s backyard is where we are. We are a sovereign and independent nation,” he declared.
