Maldives pride itself as a destination that plans well, states Minister of Tourism Dr. Abdulla Mausoom.

The Maldivian Tourism Minister made this statement at the  United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO)'s Ministerial Roundtable On Smart Tourism For Sustainable Recovery in Asia and the Pacific, held in Crossroads Maldives Resort, on Tuesday June 14, 2022.

Minister Mausoom stated that, as a destination, the biggest question, specially with regard to resilience is how fast you should go. Whether you should slow down or not. As such he highlighted that referring to data is important, when making a decision, specially in terms of product planning, development and monitoring.

Highlighting that we have access to unlimited sources of information, through the advancement of technology, the Minister said he believes that decisions should be made based on these information , specially with regard to issues such as global warming and sea-level rise. As such, the Minister highlighted that Maldives pride itself as a destination that plans well, to manage the environment and give benefit to the people.

Stating that in product planning, even our typical tourism product, one island one resort development concept, undergoes a lot of changes, Minister Mausoom said that if we were to wait for another 50 years to see what will happen if we use new technology to develop a particular product, that will be too late. He stated that we have the opportunity to use the latest technological developments to find out what exactly is going to happen.

Minister Mausoom highlighted that using the enhanced technology to gather data to use in product planning and development will help improve the tourism sector. He stated that these technological advancements can be used with certain limitations for monitoring purposes in tourist facilities, making the job easier.

Additionally, the Minister stated that technology can be used to enhance the experiences of tourists visiting the destination.

Highlighting that the latest technological advancements allow us to gather data from all over the world, Minister Mausoom stated that it is high time that the tourism industry use these resources to make evidence based decisions. He stated that the decisions made, once you have all the correct variables will be stronger and better.

The UNWTO's Ministerial Roundtable On Smart Tourism For Sustainable Recovery in Asia and the Pacific, was attended by Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture of Malaysia, Dato' Sri Nancy Shukri, Vice Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy of Indonesia, Angela Tanoesoedibjo, Vice-Minister for International Affairs, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism of Japan, Yasuhiro Okanishi, Deputy Minister of Community Tourism and Culture, Ministry of Tourism, Commerce and Industry of Timor-Leste, of Inácia da Conceição Teixeira, Director, Innovation, Education and Investments of UNWTO, Natalia Bayona, Chief Executive Officer of Pacific Tourism Organisation (SPTO), Christopher Cocker, Director General of Airports Council International Asia-Pacific (ACI), Stefano Baronci and Senior Executive of Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), Liz Ortiguera.