Maldives tourism makes 'great strides' under new leadership: Minister

The Maldivian tourism sector has made ‘great strides’ since the transfer of political power in November of last year, says Tourism Minister Ali Waheed.

Minister Waheed told a press conference on Monday that local tourism has experienced consistent growth in the last three months.

Growth during this period is 15 percent higher in comparison to the first quarter last year, Minister Waheed has said.

The minister further said that in comparison to January of last year, the tourism sector experienced an overall growth of 6.5 percent, 16.8 percent in comparison to February of last year, and 22 percent in comparison to March of last year.

The government will soon meet its ‘target’ of hosting 1.5 million tourists this year, and the entire sector has been ‘made stable and well-functioning within a short period’.

Minister Waheed’s government has pledged to ‘triple’ the budget for promotion, and further develop low-cost ‘guesthouse tourism’ in the Maldives.