Resort owners alarmed over dipping occupancy
Bed capacity increased 11 percent in 2016
A resort in Maldives
TTG Asia reports that resort operators have expressed concern over dipping number of arrivals, in spite of the new resorts opening up in the Maldives.
At the end of 2015, 23,936 beds were in 108 resorts. The number had risen to 117 resorts and 26,557 beds in 2016. Therefore, bed capacity had risen by 11 percent in 2016.
Quoting a senior manager at a resort in the Maldives, TTG Asia said that there was a glut in rooms compared to a dip in arrivals. In 2016, from January to November 1.2 million tourists, an increase of 4.2 percent. However, when one takes a look back at two or three years back, the growth was significantly higher than this year. In 2013, the growth rate was 17.8 percent compared to 2012.
Deputy Tourism Minister Hussain Lirar said to TTG Asia that increase in bed numbers was not an issue, as even in December that issue had risen.
The number of days per tourist had also decreased in 2016 compared to 2015. In 2015 a tourist spent an average of 5.7 days, which has decreased to 5.6 days in 2016.
Though the number of Chinese visitors to different destinations had increased in 2016, the numbers to Maldives had dropped by 9.8 percent. In the same period the number of Korean visitors had also decreased.
Many sources attribute the decreasing number of visitors to the turbulent political situation in the country. The effects of political turbulence is seen clearly in the Chinese arrivals. Executive Director of John Keels Holdings Krishan Balendra said that he hoped the Chinese market will pick up, noting that political turbulence is felt on this market.
The 2016 review of the sector published by Hotelier Maldives notes that the Government had not reached the set target for the year. 2016 was declared as the Visit Maldives Year and a target of 1.5 million tourists was announced for the year.
Abdulla Ghiyas, president of the Maldives Association of Travel Agents & Tour Operators (MATATO), said the Government must increase advertising the sector in order to bring in tourists and address the issue of glut in the market.
