The government revealed plans to upgrade the Madivaru airport in Lhaviyani Atoll to an international airport.
The president issued a decree to add Madivaru to a list of projects to be carried out under the cross-subsidy policy, which offers islands, lagoons or plots of land for tourism in exchange for investment in key infrastructure projects.
The minimum investment for the Madivaru project was set at US$5 million.
“The total investment proposed or committed under this model shall be set-off against the acquisition cost and/or the declared land rent of the island/land/lagoon allocated for tourism under this model,” according to the ministry of national planning, housing and infrastructure.
The Madivaru domestic airport – the first in Lhaviyani atoll – was developed by local tourism company Kuredu Holdings, which contracted the Beijing Urban Construction Group to build the terminal, air traffic control tower and a 1,200-metre runway. Kuredu, which operates resorts in the north-central atoll, reportedly spent US$11 million on the project. The national airline operator Island Aviation Services was enlisted to manage the airport in January last year and scheduled flights started in February 2022.
Other projects to be carried out under the cross-subsidy policy include upgrading the Laamu Kadhdhoo airport to international status, building six new domestic airports, and developing a residential city after reclaiming the Giraavaru lagoon near Malé.
The finance ministry published a list of 10 projects financed by India that are exempt from income taxes.
The projects include the US$500 million Thilamalé bridge, Hanimaadhoo airport development and Addu City road construction as well as water and sewerage projects on more than 60 islands.
The tax exemption was part of a line of credit agreement signed with the Indian Export Import Bank.
The Housing Development Corporation offered plots of land from Hulhumalé’s marina island on short-term leases to sell scrap metal.
Citing complaints from the public about scrap metal sellers misusing roads and pavements, HDC threatened to take action against unauthorised businesses.
The State Trading Organisation launched a programme to introduce a daycare allowance to employees, offering up to MVR2,500 (US$162) per month for children under eight to join a registered daycare facility.
STO has 2,245 employees, 37% of whom are women.
The eTukuri online shopping platform of the Maldives Post is planning a children’s art competition. Prizes include an MVR500 (US$32) voucher for first, second and third places.
The event will take place at the Ruhgadu area in Hulhumalé at 4 p.m. on 24 February.
The eTukuri service allows registered users to order from international sellers such as Amazon or Apple in America.
Of 83 islands leased for resort development where construction remains stalled or has yet to start, progress has been made with regard to about 15 islands, Tourism Minister Dr Abdulla Mausoom told parliament.
Government policies such as waiving fines, reducing rents and scrapping share transfer fees have “changed the islands to something that can be shouldered business-wise,” he said, urging companies to transfer leases to investors capable of completing the resorts.
In early 2022, a new three-year deadline for completion was imposed when lease agreements were revised for 75 islands. The main obstacle was difficulty securing financing, the tourism minister noted at the time.
The State Trading Organisation is preparing to open a self-service shop without cashiers or salespersons in March, managing director Hussain Amr announced.
The country’s first cashier-less outlet is located in Hulhumalé. Customers can shop and pay using a mobile app after registering their credit or debit cards. Security features at the shop include cameras powered by artificial intelligence.
The tourism ministry revised regulations governing tourist resort ownership to allow the transfer of shares without prior approval.
The rules previously required written authorisation from the tourism ministry for the transfer of shares from a company that holds the lease for an island or plot of land with a tourist establishment. The economic development ministry also required a no objection letter to record the share transfer and issue the new share certificate, which would have to be submitted to the tourism ministry for completion of the regulatory process.
The provisions in the 2010 regulations were scrapped to enable an easier share transfer process.
In March last year, the tourism ministry abolished a fee charged for the transfer of leaseholder rights of resorts.
The fee for transferring leaseholder rights of resorts and hotels under development was also slashed from US$100,000 to US$10,000. The fee for the sale or lease transfer of an operational resort was reduced to US$50,000. New rules were introduced for the sublease or management agreements of separate islands in the same lagoon.
A new record for daily tourist arrivals since the border reopened in July 2020 was set as the Maldives welcomed 8,028 holidaymakers.
The tourism ministry congratulated “travel and tourism industry partners and all the stakeholders on this milestone of Maldives Tourism.”
With 172,536 tourists, arrivals in January were also up 13.8% from the same month in the pre-pandemic year of 2019. Bolstered by the return of Chinese holidaymakers after a hiatus of nearly three years, tourist arrivals registered a whopping 31% increase compared to January 2022. China was the largest source market before the pandemic with 284,029 holidaymakers in 2019, representing a 17% market share.
As of 12 February, tourist arrivals for 2023 stood at 248,231 with a daily average of 5,773 visitors. The average duration of stay was 8.1 days.
Russia was the top market with 31,708 tourists, representing a market share of 12.8%, followed by India (27,173 tourists), United Kingdom (23,639 tourists), Italy (22,512 tourists), and Germany (15,941 tourists).
A total of 1,675,294 tourists visited the Maldives in 2022, exceeding the government’s optimistic forecast for the year. The authorities hope to reach a record-breaking 1.8 million tourist arrivals in 2023.
