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The Maldives Ministry of Tourism announces the 12 categories for Tourism Awards 2022 in a press conference

May 15, 2022 | News | IMTM

Male’, Maldives, 15th May 2022 –  The Ministry of Tourism held a press conference to announce the new Tourism Awards 2022 on 12 May. These awards are introduced by the Ministry of Tourism as a part of the Golden Jubilee Year celebrations, in addition to the government’s National Awards, and will continue to be held annually.

There are 12 categories for the awards:

• Staff Accommodation
• Staff Meals
• Staff Recreation and Entertainment
• Safe Work Environment
• Purchase of Locally-produced Products
• Promoting Local Cultural Performers
• Promoting Local Musicians
• Promoting Local DJs
• Highest Parity of Local Staff
• Training and Career Development
• Highest Number of Female Staff

The Minister shared a total of 48 awards will be given as each category will consider resorts, hotels, safari vessels and guesthouses separately. The criteria will be made available on the Ministry’s official website. Industry members wishing to participate must nominate themselves. The nomination period is from 1 to 30 June. They will be judged by a special evaluation committee assembled by the Ministry. Nominees will be evaluated for their performance and records from 1 June 2021 until 30 May 2022.  The Tourism Awards are given in recognition of social responsibility and dedication to tourism with a focus on employees and locals.

The Tourism Awards will be presented during the Tourism Week from 27 September to 3 October later this year. Through the press conference, Minister Mausoom also declared a trophy design competition to select the design for the Tourism Award, with an award prize of MVR 50,000 for the winner. 

27 September marks the International Tourism Day whilst 3 October has been announced as the Tourism Day in the Maldives. Therefore, many celebrations and events are planned throughout this week. 

#50yearsoftourism #covid-19 #ecotourism #goldenjubileeyear #iamwithIMTM #IMTM #imtmonline #maldives #Maldivestourismindustry #maldivian #resorts #responsibletravel #sunnysideoflife #Travelnews

Last modified: May 15, 2022

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News May 25, 2023

Ministry of Tourism Unveils 5th Tourism Master Plan

The Maldives Ministry of Tourism unveiled its Fifth Tourism Master Plan (5TMP) during a ceremony hosted at Maldives National University. The 5TMP aims to strengthen Maldives’ position as a competitive and sustainable destination, enabling the industry, which has been the driving force in transforming the economy over the last 50 years, to continue leading the country’s growth. It also highlights priority areas for policy decisions on the tourism industry over the 2023–2027 plan period.

The 5th Tourism Master Plan outlines 15 priority goals that will guide the country’s tourism sector in the coming years:

• Maximize the benefits of tourism to all atoll communities.
• Communicate the full potential of Maldives.
• Offer new products and experiences.
• Build climate resilience and protect natural assets.
• Enhance energy security & achieve net zero emissions.
• Provide outstanding transport services.
• Attract and retain a world-class tourism workforce.
• Accelerate investment and innovative finance.
• Regulatory reforms to make it easier to do business.
• Accelerate 360° digitalization.
• Whole-of-government prioritization of tourism.
• Advanced data analytics and insights.
• Strengthen health, safety, and security systems.
• Establish transformational tourism industry standards.
• Ensure tourism is accessible for all.

As the country moves forward with the implementation of the Master Plan, it is poised to shape a prosperous future for its tourism industry, one that benefits local communities, protects the environment, and delivers exceptional experiences to all who visit the Maldives.

Latest Travel News

News April 27, 2024

Ministry of Tourism Launches 5th Tourism Master Plan

On May 25, 2023, the Maldives Ministry of Tourism launched the destination’s 5th Tourism Master Plan (5TMP) at a ceremony held at Maldives National University. The document sets out the vision, policy priorities, and strategies for the Maldives tourism industry over the next 5 years. The 5TMP is a long-term plan to address the challenges and emerging opportunities in the tourism industry. The Master Plan was drawn up with support from the Asian Development Bank, local and international consultants, and key stakeholders.

The aim of the Master Plan is to have a comprehensive framework and direction to strengthen Maldives as a competitive and sustainable destination. The plan is benchmarked to the World Economic Forum’s Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index to allow comparison to other leading destinations. The approach of the Master Plan is similar to other destinations, like Seychelles and Malaysia, that experience similar challenges to the Maldives.

The 5th Tourism Master Plan outlines 15 priority goals: 

• Maximize the benefits of tourism to all atoll communities
• Communicate the full potential of Maldives
• Offer new products and experiences
• Build climate resilience and protect natural assets
• Enhance energy security & achieve net zero emissions
• Provide outstanding transport services
• Attract and retain a world-class tourism workforce
• Accelerate investment and innovative finance
• Regulatory reforms to make it easier to do business
• Accelerate 360* digitalization
• Whole-of-government prioritization of tourism
• Advanced data analytics and insights
• Strengthen health, safety, and security systems
• Establish transformational tourism industry standards
• Ensure tourism is accessible for all

The 5TMP also sets a target of USD 6 billion a year in international tourism receipts by 2027. This figure was determined through consultation with industry stakeholders, the Ministry of Finance, and Maldives Association of Tourism Industry based on the latest data from the Maldives Bureau of Statistics and Maldives Monetary Authority.

The next step is to work with stakeholders to create action plans to realize the goals of the 5TMP. All levels of government and industry stakeholders will need to work collaboratively to implement the priorities of the Master Plan. In 2025, the 5TMP will be reviewed to check on target progress and prioritize the action plan.

Featured Image: Unsplash

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Maldives Tries to Win Back Indian Tourists As Arrivals Fall 40%

Peden Doma Bhutia , Skift

April 16th, 2024 at 9:11 AM EDT

While Maldives enjoys record-breaking arrivals, its tourism companies aren't about to let the Indian market keep falling. They're on a mission to reverse the trend.

Peden Doma Bhutia

The Maldives Association of Travel Agents and Tour Operators is determined to increase Indian arrivals to the island destination and is taking steps to achieve this.

“Indian arrivals to the Maldives have gone down by almost 40%,” said Abdulla Ghiyas, the association’s president, in an exclusive interview with Skift.

In early January, #BoycottMaldives started trending in Indian social media following a diplomatic dispute between the two countries. Indians accused Maldivian politicians of making disparaging remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

As a result, India, which was the number 2 source market for Maldives, has now fallen to number 6 . India’s share of visitors had been almost 11% – it has shrunk to 5.6%.

Promotions in Indian Cities

Ghiyas said the association will be hosting roadshows in 3 Indian cities in July and confirmed to Skift that one of the cities would be Bengaluru.

The association also plans to engage with Indian social media influencers. “We also want to see how we can work with the tourism board in Maldives as we have partnered with them in the past as well. There are talks that the tourism board is also planning of doing something in India,” Ghiyas said.

At the July roadshows, he said he’s keen to look at cities that have direct connectivity with Maldives.

Ghiyas expressed a desire to have conducted the roadshow earlier, noting that May is when Indian outbound travel peaks. However, he mentioned plans for another round of roadshows towards the end of the year, aiming to include Tier 2 cities. “Even if they lack direct flights to the Maldives, these cities would represent an important market for us,” he said.

Maldives has so far received (from January 1-April 15) 693,867 tourists, up from 606,395 arrivals for the same period last year, as per the latest data from the Maldives tourism ministry.

China is the top source market for the island destination, followed by UK and Russia.

Between January 1-April 15, almost 39,000 Indians visited Maldives, a decline of almost 40%, compared to the 64,250 arrivals for the same period last year.

“We might not talk immediately about the growth scenario, but I would definitely like to see the 40% decline narrow down,” Ghiyas said.

Can’t Ignore India

While Maldives has experienced record-breaking tourism arrivals so far, Ghiyas said it still needs India. “There are properties and resorts that rely heavily on the Indian market, which have been severely affected. This will hurt us in the long term and that is why we have decided to engage with the India market.”

Aminath Suzan, CEO of Maldives Association of Travel Agents and Tour Operators, pointed to cultural ties, such as similarities in food, language, and pop culture. “We must ensure that unrelated matters do not negatively impact the bond, for which we have dedicated years and built this alliance.”

MATATO Meets with Indian High Commissioner to Foster Tourism Cooperation The Maldives Association of Travel Agents and Tour Operators (MATATO) engaged in a productive meeting with His Excellency Munu Mahawar, the Indian High Commissioner to the Maldives, to explore collaborative… pic.twitter.com/PNXiy3QdVz — MATATO – PATA Maldives Chapter (@matatoMV) April 9, 2024

The association members also recently met with Munu Mahawar, the Indian high commissioner in Maldives, to collaborate closely with his office to boost tourism initiatives.

Dubbing the meeting with Mahawar “positive,” Ghiyas said the high commission has offered assistance to the association. “Once we have a concrete plan, we will definitely follow up with the High Commission and share our plans.”

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Tags: asia monthly , china , india outbound , islands , maldives , social media , tourism marketing

Photo credit: Ritz Carlton Maldives Fari Islands. Fari Islands

Maldives Fifth Tourism Master Plan 2023-2027.

Maldives releases fifth tourism master plan to ensure sustainable growth

Maldives’ tourism ministry on Thursday released the Fifth Tourism Master Plan (5TMP), which sets out the vision, policy priorities, and strategies for the industry over the next five years.

The 5TMP was developed with the help of comprehensive consultations with industry stakeholders, including in-person and virtual meetings, as well as field visits to various regions. The plan examines priority areas for developing the tourism industry, including the business environment, human resource development, environmental conservation, information and communication technology, the social and cultural environment, safety and security, and the legal environment.

By incorporating recommendations from the UN Sustainable Development Goals and international best practices, the 5TMP’s vision is to position Maldives as the world’s leading destination in sustainable tourism with a special focus on making Maldives an accessible tourism destination.

The 5TMP aims to strengthen Maldives’ position as a competitive and sustainable destination, enabling the industry, which has been the driving force in transforming the economy over the last 50 years, to continue leading the country’s growth.

The 5TMP highlights priority areas for policy decisions on the tourism industry over the 2023–2027 plan period. These include:

• Improving the business environment for tourism businesses, including by reducing red tape and simplifying regulations.
• Developing a skilled workforce to meet the needs of the tourism industry.
• Conserving the environment and promoting sustainable tourism practices.
• Using information and communication technology to improve the tourism experience.
• Promoting cultural tourism and preserving the Maldives’ unique culture and heritage.
• Ensuring the safety and security of tourists.
• Strengthening the legal framework for tourism.

The 5TMP is a comprehensive and ambitious plan that sets out a clear vision for the future of tourism in the Maldives. The plan is based on extensive consultations with industry stakeholders and incorporates the latest international best practices. The 5TMP is a critical tool for ensuring the continued success of the Maldives’ tourism industry and its contribution to the country’s economic development.

The 5TMP is a positive development for the Maldives’ tourism industry. The plan’s focus on sustainability and accessibility is in line with the growing demand for these types of experiences from tourists. The 5TMP’s focus on improving the business environment and developing a skilled workforce will also help to make the Maldives a more attractive destination for investors and businesses.

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This summer’s inaugural Patina Maldives x Real Madrid CF Foundation football camp is the first edition in an ongoing partnership, with additional future football camp dates to be confirmed. Led by a licensed Real Madrid Foundation coach, sessions will focus on developing each participant both individually and as part of the group, in order to ‘Play The Real Way’ – the training methodology that combines play, as well as sports values.

Sessions will take place on a new, purpose-built 6 a side astroturf pitch located near the Fari Marina Village at Patina Maldives.

All participants will receive an official camp football camp shirt, shorts, socks, drawstring bag, sweatbands, and cap; while those completing a minimum of four days’ coaching will also be presented with a Real Madrid Foundation participation certificate.

Real Madrid Foundation football clinics at Patina Maldives, Fari Islands are priced at USD195++ per child per session for guests of the resort. Bookings are also open to guests from neighbouring resorts, from USD250++ per child per session.

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Surrounded by azure skies and the turquoise waters of the Raa Atoll, Alila Kothaifaru Maldives offers an idyllic setting for a family escape during the Easter break. Here, guests can unwind in luxurious, nature-immersed surroundings, embark on exciting adventures together, and indulge in unforgettable wellness and culinary experiences.

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Romance never ends, get ready to swoon, Siyam World is pulling out all the stops to make this  White Valentine’s Day  one for the books.  Nestled in the heart of the Maldives, Siyam World invites couples to indulge in a whirlwind of romance and adventure on  March 14th, 2024.

Internationally acclaimed  DJ Youna  will headline the evening’s entertainment, enchanting guests with her signature blend of melodic techno and progressive house music. Against the backdrop of the Maldivian night sky, guests can dance under the stars and create cherished memories with their loved ones. DJ Youna, the rising star of melodic techno and progressive house, is set to serenade you and your beloved under the starlit skies of Siyam World.

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Moosa Zameer

Minister of Foreign Affairs

Moosa Zameer was appointed as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Maldives on 17 November 2023, by President Dr Mohamed Muizzu. 

Minister Zameer brings to the job his astute experiences as a former Minister, and a former Member of Parliament, and a proven track-record, particularly on negotiating and securing development and private sector financing from a multitude of sources. 

At a young age, Minister Zameer was introduced into the world of business, where he was the Managing Director for several successful private companies, specialising in the marine sector, tourism and hospitality, and fuel supply. He took these experiences and the skills he acquired, to Maldivian politics and later, to the Parliament and the Executive. 

Minister Zameer’s political career began in 2008. He was a founding member of the People’s Alliance (PA), serving as its Vice President and representing the Party in various domestic and international forums, events, and media engagements. In 2011, Minister Zameer joined the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM), the successor to the now-defunct PA. As the Vice President of PPM, he was instrumental in the Party’s operations, including its foreign relations, establishing links with political parties and international organisations, in various countries, including India, Malaysia and China. He was an active contributor to the development of the party’s manifesto, agenda, and strategy. 

Minister Zameer was a Member of Parliament from 2009 to 2014. During his term, he played a leading role in the formulation of bills relating to finance, economy, and national security. He was the Chairman of the Standing Committee on Economic Affairs from 2011 to 2014, a Member of The Standing Committee on National Security Services from 2009 to 2014, and a Member of the Standing Committee on Petitions from 2009 to 2014. He was also the Chairman of the Maldives-Sri Lanka Parliamentary Friendship Group, and represented the Parliament in several high-level meetings, events, and exchanges with parliamentarians and officials of various countries, as well as in multilateral bodies such as the Inter-Parliamentary Union, and the United Nations. 

As the Minister of Tourism from 28 October 2015 to 17 November 2018, Minister Zameer oversaw the remarkable growth and diversification of the Maldivian tourism sector - the main source of income and employment for the Maldives. He oversaw the opening of four domestic airports, 7 hotels, 55 new resorts, and almost 500 guesthouses across the country under his tenure. He was instrumental in securing new foreign investments worth over $1 billion and establishing and strengthening partnerships with regional and international organisations and bodies. 

Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Fathulla Jameel Building, Malé, 20077, Republic of Maldives, | Tel Number: 00960 332-3400  |  Emergency Contact: 00960 798-3400

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Pro-China President Muizzu’s party sweeps Maldives parliamentary elections, preliminary results say

A woman casts her vote at a polling station in Male, India, Sunday, April 21, 2024. Maldivians are voting in parliamentary elections, in a ballot crucial for President Mohamed Muizzu, whose policies are keenly watched by India and China as they vie for influence in the archipelago nation. (AP Photo/Mohamed Sharuhaan)

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MALE, Maldives (AP) — Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu’s political party has swept parliamentary elections in a strong endorsement of his pro-China foreign policy, according to preliminary results reported Monday by local media.

The People’s National Congress won 70 out of 93 seats in Sunday’s vote, and along with three seats secured by its allies has taken absolute control of Parliament, according to the preliminary results.

The Maldivian Democratic Party, led by former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, who is seen as pro-India, held 65 seats in the previous Parliament but won only 15 seats, the news site Mihaaru.com reported.

Official results are expected later Monday.

The election was closely watched by regional powers India and China, which are competing for influence in the archipelago nation, which has a strategic location in the Indian Ocean.

Muizzu’s election as president last year sharpened the rivalry between India and China as he took a pro-China stand and acted to remove Indian troops stationed on one of Maldives’ islets.

Sunday’s election was easier than expected for Muizzu, who had been expected to face a tough fight because some of his allies had fallen out and more parties entered the race.

Six political parties and independent groups fielded 368 candidates for the 93 seats in Parliament. The number of seats is six more than in the previous Parliament following adjustments for population growth.

Muizzu ran for president on a campaign theme of “India out,” accusing his predecessor of compromising national sovereignty by giving India too much influence.

At least 75 Indian military personnel were stationed in the Maldives and their known activities were operating two aircraft donated by India and assisting in the rescue of people stranded or faced with calamities at sea. Muizzu has taken steps to have civilians take over those activities.

Relations were strained further when Indian social media activists started a boycott of tourism in Maldives. That was in retaliation for three Maldivian deputy ministers making derogatory statements about Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for raising the idea of promoting tourism in Lakshadweep, India’s own string of islands similar to the Maldives.

India has fallen from being the top source of foreign visitors to Maldives to No. 6, according to Maldives government statistics.

Muizzu visited China earlier this year and negotiated an increase in the number of tourists and inbound flights from China.

In 2013, Maldives joined China’s “Belt and Road” initiative meant to build ports and highways to expand trade — and China’s influence — across Asia, Africa and Europe.

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International Edition

Maldives votes in parliamentary elections amid India-China rivalry

Vote is being keenly watched by India and China as they vie for influence in the island nation.

Polls have closed in the Maldives, where voters have cast their ballots in a parliamentary election crucial for President Mohamed Muizzu, who has taken a pro-China stand and turned the archipelago nation away from longtime ally India since coming to power last September.

The vote on Sunday is being keenly watched by India and China as they vie for influence in the island country, which is known for its pristine beaches and luxury resorts and is strategically located in the Indian Ocean, through which global east-west shipping lanes pass.

Keep reading

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About 284,000 people were eligible to vote in Sunday’s polls, and tentative results are expected later on the same day.

Six political parties and independent groups are fielding 368 candidates for 93 seats in the People’s Majilis, or parliament. Splits in all the main political groupings, including Muizzu’s People’s National Congress (PNC)-led ruling coalition and the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), are expected to make it hard for any single party to win an outright majority.

Ali Nasser Mohamed, Maldives ambassador to the United Nations, told Al Jazeera that the government is confident of securing at least 90 percent of the seats in the parliament.

“The election is being held at an important point and is an important juncture for the president … This election is less about geopolitical rivalry in the Indian Ocean … and is more about the future of Maldives and the people. It is about creative stability, prosperity and resilience in the Maldives,” he said.

Muizzu won last year’s presidential polls on promises to cut off Indian influence with his “India out” campaign. He was widely seen as a proxy candidate for former President Abdulla Yameen, who held power between 2013 and 2018 and whose 11-year jail term on bribery charges was overturned by a court last week.

The two men have fallen out since Muizzu took office, and Yameen has set up a rival party, the People’s National Front (PNF), ahead of Sunday’s polls.

“This is perhaps the most difficult election to predict given the high degree of factionalisation, including in the ruling coalition,” said Azim Zahir, a lecturer and research fellow in international relations and politics at the University of Western Australia in Perth.

The opposition MDP, which swept the last parliamentary election in 2019, was “very cohesive and hence got super majority,” Zahir noted. “Still, I think the ruling coalition and the MDP will get most seats,” he said.

On the eve of the election, Muizzu – who has accused his immediate predecessor Mohammed Ibrahim Solih of compromising national sovereignty by giving India too much influence – appealed to voters to grant his coalition a majority in parliament to protect the country’s independence.

“All those who love our nation must make sure the decision they make tomorrow is one to secure our nation’s future,” he said. “The ballot you cast tomorrow must be for national sovereignty and for the protection of our nation.”

The incumbent leader highlighted his government’s efforts to deport some 75 Indian military personnel who are stationed in the Maldives, saying his party needed a majority in parliament to see its campaign promise through.

The known activities of the Indian military personnel were operating two aircraft donated by India and assisting in the rescue of people stranded or faced with calamities at sea. Muizzu wants to have civilians take over those activities.

The opposition, meanwhile, has portrayed Sunday’s election as a choice between autocracy and democracy.

Solih, the former president, appealed to voters at the MDP’s final campaign rally on Saturday to vote for the opposition to hold the government accountable.

“Tomorrow’s vote is about safeguarding the democracy that we have all fought so hard to establish here,” he told supporters ahead of the elections.

The current parliament, dominated by Solih’s MDP, has sought to stymie Muizzu’s efforts to realign the archipelago’s foreign policy.

Relations between India and the Maldives have also deteriorated after Indian social media activists started a boycott campaign of Maldives tourism in January.

The move was in retaliation for three Maldivian deputy ministers making derogatory statements about Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for raising the idea of promoting tourism in Lakshadweep, India’s string of islands similar to the Maldives.

According to recent Maldives government statistics, the number of Indian tourists has fallen, dropping that country from being the top source of foreign visitors to the sixth.

Muizzu visited China earlier this year and negotiated an increase in the number of tourists and inbound flights from China. His government has also awarded high-profile infrastructure contracts to Chinese state-owned companies.

In 2013, Maldives joined China’s Belt and Road Initiative meant to build ports and highways to expand trade – and China’s influence – across Asia, Africa and Europe.

The Maldives consists of about 1,200 coral islands and atolls and has a population of about 520,000.

The Maldives is racing to create new land. Why are so many people concerned?

By Jesse Chase-Lubitz

Photography by Neeta Satam for Nature

24 April 2024

The island nation is expanding its territory by dredging up sediment from the ocean floor. 

But scientists, former government officials and activists say such reclamation can harm marine ecosystems and make the country more vulnerable to rising seas..

This article was produced in partnership with the Pulitzer Center.

This article is also available as a pdf version.

“Sun, sand and sea.” Those are the three ingredients for tourism in the Maldives, Mohamed Shaiz’s father told him. For more than a decade, Shaiz’s family owned a successful local hotel in Addu, the Maldives’ southernmost atoll. But nearly 9 months ago, the government took away the sea.

A state-sponsored project had pulled up sediment from offshore areas and used it to extend the beach in front of the hotel by 130 metres — too far to walk for most tourists who want easy access to the ocean. Now all Shaiz sees from his hotel is a human-made desert and a slew of cancelled reservations.

The view in front of Mohamed Shaiz’s hotel on Addu Atoll.

The Maldives is an 820-kilometre-long chain of nearly 1,200 islands dotting the Indian Ocean. The nation has become one of the most popular luxury tourism destinations in the world because of its Instagrammable beaches and its advertising slogan: “the sunny side of life”. But the Maldives is also one of the countries most vulnerable to sea-level rise . With 80% of its land less than one metre above sea level, some scientists predict that the islands could be completely submerged by 2100.

In an effort to keep the country above water and thriving, the government is adopting a strategy used by many nations around the globe : land reclamation. The sandy stretch in front of Shaiz’s hotel is some of the newest land on the planet, dug up from the bottom of the ocean, sucked through pipes and piled along the coast to make more space.

Maldivian government officials say that the land is necessary to make room for economic development, especially as sea levels rise.

“This will be a doorstep, a job destination and an income-generating destination,” said President Mohamed Muizzu at the inauguration of a new land-reclamation project last December.

Critics are unconvinced, and say that the country has enough space to thrive. One swathe of land on a neighbouring island near Shaiz’s hotel was reclaimed in 2016. It remains undeveloped today. “Call me in five years,” Shaiz says, gesturing to the newly created desert in front of his hotel. “This land will be the same.”

Mohamed Shaiz and his family own a hotel on Addu Atoll.

In addition to the disputed economics, there is serious concern about the environmental damage that land reclamation can cause. Studies in the Maldives and at other sites around the world have shown that it can harm corals and seagrass, damage natural barriers, such as sand bars, mangroves and estuaries, and destroy marine habitats. “Atolls are extremely vulnerable ecosystems,” says Bregje van Wesenbeeck, the scientific director of Deltares, a Dutch research institute for water management in Delft. “Once you start to interfere with them, you’re sort of failing them.”

Expanding territories

The island of Gulhifalhu lies just west of the capital, Malé. A reclamation project started in 2020 is filling in half the atoll.

Dutch planners are often considered the founders of land reclamation, with a history of water engineering going back some 800 years. Over the centuries, land-forming projects have shaped some of the world’s major cities, including Singapore, London, New York and Miami. In recent decades, most of the reclaimed land has been in East Asia. In China, Shanghai has reclaimed 350 square kilometres  — more than three times the size of Paris — over the past few decades. Colombo has added 100 km 2 in just 4 years, and 65 km 2 of Mumbai is reclaimed. A study on twenty-first-century coastal-land reclamation found that of 135 large coastal cities with populations of more than one million people, 75% had reclaimed land 1 .

With projects stretching back to 1997, the Maldives is a veteran of large-scale land reclamation. Then-minister of state for environment Abdulla Naseer said in 2018 that there are an estimated 50 islands with reclaimed land in the country, although many specialists say that’s a conservative estimate.

Source: Maldives Land and Survey Authority

Land scarcity is a key factor driving reclamation projects. Although the nation’s territory covers 90,000 km 2 , more than 99% of it is ocean. Around half a million people live on a total land area of just 300 km 2 , and the country welcomes around 1.3 million tourists each year, who contribute 80% of its gross domestic product. The capital, Malé, is one of the most densely populated parts of the planet. It’s possible to walk across the entire island in 20 minutes.

Images captured by LANDSAT satellites in 1997 and 2020 show the impact of reclamation projects on Malé and nearby islands.

Credit: Lauren Dauphin/NASA Earth Observatory

The Maldives’ 1,200 islands are all atolls — rings of coral reef that surround lagoons. When the government decides to reclaim land, it takes sand from the lagoons using boats outfitted with suction pipes, which collect sand and coral debris from the ocean floor like giant vacuum cleaners. The boat then deposits the material in a different spot, either inside or outside the atoll, to form new land. Sometimes reclamation projects fill in the entire lagoon.

Environmental damage

Heaps of sand and debris are piled up next to Shaiz’s hotel and behind the new patch of reclaimed land.

Addu Atoll, the site of Shaiz’s hotel, is about two hours south of Malé by aeroplane. Its rich coral reefs support more than 1,200 species of fish — one of the factors that led the United Nations cultural organization UNESCO to include the atoll in its World Network of Biosphere Reserves in 2020.

Some of the islands are so narrow that you can almost always see water on both sides while standing in the centre. It’s a largely quiet and rural place that feels forgotten. Yet construction marches on.

The Ministry of National Planning, Housing and Infrastructure announced the Addu Development Project in 2021, aiming to reclaim parts of the atoll and develop a road connection between existing islands. One of the ministry’s justifications is that it will provide extra housing. In the Maldives, land for houses is given away to eligible individuals and families. Addu City’s mayor, Ali Nizar, says that there have been more than 5,000 requests for housing since he entered office in 2021. “We need land,” he says. “There’s no other way.”

A reclamation project in Addu started in early 2023 and is adding land for housing, businesses and resorts.

Because Addu has one of the few international airports in the country, the hope is also that the extra land will attract international investment. “With this huge expansion project, the transformational development of Addu City has commenced,” said former president Ibrahim Mohamed Solih after inaugurating the project in June 2023.

The project has been controversial from the start. When it was announced, Ibrahim Mohamed was sitting at his desk at the Maldives’ Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in Malé. He instantly had concerns about how the project would affect Addu. Mohamed grew up in Addu in the 1970s, taking walks through the massive seagrass beds near his home. He remembers watching stingrays surf the waves, and marvelling at fiddler crabs along the shore.

Mohamed led the environmental impact assessment (EIA) process for land-reclamation projects. When the Addu proposal landed on his desk, he contracted an environmental consulting group called Water Solutions, headquarted in Malé, to do the review.

The environmental impact report , published in February 2022, found that “the proposed reclamation is well received by the community” and that there was “high interest to implement the project based on the potential economic benefits”. But it also concluded that “long-term irreversible negative impacts will be generated from the project” for both the environment and the community, including by destroying coral reefs and seagrass meadows and harming the fishing and tourism industries.

“It was sufficient enough for the EPA to reject the project,” Mohamed says. “But they didn’t.” In May 2022, he quit his job after 10 years at the agency.

After the report came out, the EPA pushed for changes, such as a smaller area from which the project would source sand. “We tried to change the scope because we are here to protect the environment and at the same time, help development,” says the agency’s director-general, Ibrahim Naeem. “Development has to go hand in hand with environment. It should not destroy the environment,” he says.

Once the changes were made to the proposed project, Water Solutions produced a second report to assess the environmental impacts at the end of September 2022. It found that the altered project, with increased mitigation and monitoring in place, would still have irreversible negative impacts — ranging from moderate to major — on marine plants and animals, protected and sensitive areas, tourism, fisheries and recreational activities.

The assessment calculated that the cost of the damage to coral reefs alone would be between US$340 million and $851 million.

The September 2022 report does not offer explicit recommendations. “Our role is to share the information. We just wanted to present the facts,” says Ahmed Jameel, managing director of Water Solutions and one of the authors of the report. However, he adds, the assessment was not vague in its conclusions. The findings showed clearly that the project “would have an overall negative impact”, he says.

When asked about the concerns raised in the second report, Naeem says that the findings, combined with insights he received from EPA staff members who conducted anonymous reviews of the EIA, indicated that there was “enough justification in the report to approve it in terms of social benefit”.

“Any development projects in this type of environment, especially in the marine area, will have an impact,” he says, adding that “if you do reclamation properly, and if you do it wisely, I think impacts can be minimized”.

Ibrahim Mohamed previously worked for the Maldives’ Environmental Protection Agency.

The construction company Van Oord is performing the reclamation work for the Addu Atoll project.

The Dutch company responsible for doing the construction on the project, Van Oord, told Nature that environmental management for the project is overseen by the EPA and that it is working with the agency and local specialists to minimize the environmental impacts. Van Oord said it prepared a comprehensive environmental management plan “based on the mitigation measures mandated in the EIA and in compliance with international guidelines”. As part of its efforts, the company relocated coral and seagrass, and added silt screens to limit how much sediment would flow beyond the reclamation zone and affect other areas.

Van Oord, which is based in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, told Nature that “all the predicted impacts have been effectively managed by implementing a series of mitigation measures”.

A new house on Hulhumeedhoo island, to the northeast of Addu City, remains unfinished and unoccupied.

In October 2022, the EPA approved the project. But critics say the environmental costs of the reclamation are too high.

“I think their efforts are not worth the amount of destruction and the irreversible damage,” says Mohamed. “It can never be compensated properly.”

Today, the land in front of Shaiz’s hotel is the result of that decision. Yet if you speak to people on Addu, many say that land is not what they need right now; they need jobs. Much of Addu is filled with empty, unfinished homes because individuals don’t have the income or resources to build houses on their free land.

“Fifty per cent [of our land] is abandoned or empty,” says Addu’s former deputy mayor, Abdullah Thoyyib, who served the city before this reclamation project took place. “We need economic benefits and job opportunities, but that’s not happening.”

Reefs at risk

Reclamation projects in the Maldives can fill the water with sediment, threatening coral reefs.

Sitting in a resort in Addu City, Nisal Musthag places a map of Addu’s main diving spots on the table. Musthag leads diving trips for one of the two active resorts in the atoll, and he has seen some of the damage that follows reclamation projects. He points at one of the four channels between the island’s lagoon and the ocean. “This is like a cemetery now,” he says.

Musthag does three to four dives a day, six days a week. Since the most-recent reclamation, there are at least five sites he no longer takes guests to. “There are people who come back every year to dive, and this year they were like, hey, what’s happening?”

Nisal Musthag leads diving trips in Addu, but has stopped taking tourists to spots where coral was damaged by reclamation projects.

The impacts of reclamation on coral health are one of researchers’ main concerns. Some reefs die when sediment is dumped on them to create new land. But even corals that escape direct damage can be harmed because the construction work creates clouds of sediment that spread out and settle on more distant reefs. Robbed of light and nutrients, these corals can struggle to survive. The damage to reefs not only harms the ecosystem but can also leave the islands vulnerable to storms and sea-level rise, say scientists.

To reduce damage to corals during the work at Addu, the EIA required that at least 10% of existing corals be relocated outside the reclamation footprints. Van Oord says it has moved 73,000 corals to 9 recipient sites identified in conjunction with the EPA. The firm says that it “certainly surpassed the EIA requirement”.

Saleem Rashid is one of several local divers who helped to relocate the corals. He has been monitoring them for the past year. One species, blue coral ( Heliopora coerulea ), which was moved from the outside of the atoll to the inside, died completely. “We moved 80 colonies,” says Rasheed. “They survived one week and died entirely after six months.”

“We need land. There’s no other way.”

Ali Nizar, Addu City’s mayor, supports the island’s reclamation projects.

Fathimath Saaira, social-justice advocate in Addu.

“I worry that our livelihood is being stolen from us. Our nature is being snatched away.”

Fathimath Saaira is a social-justice advocate in Addu who opposes the reclamation there.

But the rest of the species have shown resilience. Three months after relocation, they were struggling, but now, Rasheed says, they are alive and well.

Researchers have found that coral relocation can work if colonies are moved to areas with similar conditions that are protected from waves. A 2017 study in Hawaii, for example, showed that relocated corals were thriving a decade after they were moved 2 . One study on coral restoration and relocation in the Maldives measured the survival rate of 242 coral fragments 12 months after they had been moved 3 . The authors found a 70% survival rate, which they concluded was a promising result.

A solitary mangrove tree grows near newly reclaimed land in northeast Addu.

A grey heron joins others on a new sea wall built in Addu.

But coral health is only one concern for researchers studying the effects of reclamation. Mangroves, seagrass beds and coastal ecosystems can also be in harm’s way, say scientists.

Water Solutions’ second report about the Addu project, for example, projected that the reclamation process would bury about 98 hectares of seagrass meadow in the atoll’s lagoon, at an estimated economic cost of more than $3.7 million a year.

Uncertain future

Coral debris makes up much of the reclaimed land.

Not far from Shaiz’s hotel, a sea wall stretches towards the horizon, protecting a new swathe of land made of sand and coral debris. Coastal protection efforts such as the sea wall — and the changes wrought by reclamation — could have long-lasting effects on the processes that keep the islands from eroding, say researchers.

Like other atolls, the Maldivian islands evolve with the seasons, with monsoons moving sand around them. Between December and February, the winds transport sand from the northeast to the southwest. Between June and August, the pattern reverses.

“In a natural island, you will see seasonally the sand shifting with the waves and the currents,” says Mohamed. But reclamation can impede this process, he adds, by taking sand and coral debris from some locations through dredging — leaving a deficit in its wake — and depositing it where natural flows wouldn’t. Some projects add another complication by building hard barriers, such as sea walls, to protect the land, because they can stop the natural flow of sediments.

“Ecosystems can adapt if we allow them to,” says van Wesenbeeck at Deltares. “By interfering, you will kill the whole system in the end.”

Not only does this change how the island naturally maintains itself, but it can also draw development to places that are at a high risk of a storm surge or erosion, say some researchers.

“Islands can’t occur anywhere,” says Virginie Duvat, a coastal geographer at La Rochelle University in France, who has studied the effects of land reclamation in the Maldives. “If you put an island where there was naturally no island, you create vulnerable land and you will necessarily have to build strong engineered structures, breakwaters and sea walls,” she says.

A reclamation projection near Malé.

Thilafushi is an industrial island near Malé that hosts one of the country’s large rubbish dumps. New land is extending the island westward.

In a 2019 study 4 , Duvat and Alexandre Magnan, a geographer at the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations — Sciences Po in Paris, assessed the scale of coastal changes that humans had made to 107 inhabited islands in the Maldives between 2004–06 and 2014–16. On almost half the islands, the researchers found significant degradation in the reefs’ abilities to weaken waves and provide natural sources of sediments. One-fifth of the islands had almost entirely or entirely “lost their natural capacity to respond and adjust to ocean climate-related pressures”, the researchers say.

Source: Ref. 4

“It means that a decision you have taken one day to rely on reclaimed land will necessarily cause you to invest more money,” says Duvat. “You are locked into the engineered path for decades and decades and potentially the rest of the century.”

“If you build a levee, people will think they’re safe,” says van Wesenbeeck. “But is it wise to destroy environmental assets to create investment in an area that’s one of the most vulnerable in the world for climate change?”

The city of hope

A new housing development in Hulhumalé.

Some 550 km to the north of Addu, the capital, Malé, sits like an overpopulated postage stamp in the middle of the ocean.

Malé is tiny — less than 2 km across at its widest point — but more than 200,000 people live on the island. To relieve population pressures, the government decided in the late 1990s to start reclaiming a massive atoll next to Malé, called Hulhumalé.

Hulhumalé has become known as ‘the city of hope’ — a place that not only has room but is also protected from sea-level rise. Architects designed it with sea-level-rise scenarios until 2100 in mind. The outer edges are 2 metres above sea level, more than twice the height of Malé.

LANDSAT photos of Hulhumalé (the long island on the right) show how much reclamation projects have altered it between 1997 (left) and 2020 (right). Malé is at the bottom of the photo. Credit: Lauren Dauphin/NASA Earth Observatory

Hulhulmalé is regarded by specialists mainly as a worthwhile success for land reclamation, but critics have raised many questions about three newer projects on the western side of Malé, all of which are being built using sand from the nearby lagoon.

Malé’s busy skyline, seen from the nearby island of Vilimalé.

In 2021, Humay Abdulghafoor, a Malé-based veteran fighter against land reclamation, sued three institutional bodies of the government on the grounds that they violated an environmental-protection law. She said that a new reclamation project risked causing serious environmental, economic and cultural damage to the local community by undermining “the economic and social benefits flowing from the natural environment and biodiversity richness of the Maldives”, according to her legal case.

“By destroying the Maldives, you cannot develop it,” she says.

The case has been ongoing for years, but on 14 February, it had its first breakthrough. The country’s High Court decided to pause a dredging project near Malé. However, the next day, the Supreme Court said that this pause would cause significant financial losses and overturned the decision.

“By destroying the Maldives, you cannot develop it.”

Humay Abdulghafoor, who has sued the government over its reclamation plans.

“How we create land, and the extent to which we do it, is excessive.”

Mohamed Aslam, former minister of planning, infrastructure and housing.

Mauroof Jameel, one of five architects chosen to build Hulhumalé, also has concerns about the latest projects. Jameel, who is based in Malé, says that it made sense to reclaim land at Hulhumalé to address congestion and help to build up the economy, but he is hesitant about how fast reclamation projects are now taking place. No one knows what the long-term impacts will be, he says.

In many parts of the world, including the Maldives, land reclamation can be beneficial, say scientists. “In my opinion, it can be a positive thing around Malé,” says Duvat, because of population pressures there. But she doesn’t see as much justification in more rural, distant atolls. “In this case, I cannot see the benefits.”

Should the Maldives be creating new land?

Officials with the Maldivian government acknowledge that land reclamation can cause harm. But there is no indication that the process is slowing down. Just 3 months after Muizzu was inaugurated as president last November, he announced the biggest reclamation project the nation has ever seen —another endeavour to reclaim land near Malé on top of those already in the works. “The brand-new model city will revolutionize the country’s urban landscape, addressing housing challenges in the greater Malé region by providing 65,000 housing units,” he said in February at the World Governments Summit in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

But many former officials urge caution. “How we create land, and the extent to which we do it, is excessive,” says Mohamed Aslam, the minister of planning, housing and infrastructure for the previous administration, the agency responsible for land-reclamation projects. He says that land is ofen reclaimed as an easy way to keep the public happy, to show them that the government is doing something.

“The easy part is building the land,” he says. “Only after that does the hard part begin.”

• Author: Jesse Chase-Lubitz
• Original photography & drone footage: Neeta Satam for Nature
• Logistical support in the Maldives: Shah Ahmed Yusuf
• Media editor: Agnese Abrusci
• Subeditor: Francisca Schultz
• Editor: Richard Monastersky
• Sengupta, D. et al . Earths Future 11 , e2022EF002927 (2023).
• Rodgers, K. S. et al . PeerJ 5 , e3346 (2017).
• Pancrazi, I., Feairheller, K., Ahmed, H., di Napoli, C. & Montefalcone, M. Diversity 15 , 1022 (2023).
• Duvat, V. K. E. & Magnan, A. K. Sci. Rep . 9 , 15129 (2019).
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Indian tourists ditch Maldives amid row as numbers drop 40%; China arrivals up 200%

A report by the maldives' ministry of tourism showed that as many as 56,208 indian tourists had visited maldives between january and march 2023. this number declined to 34,847 in the january-march 2024 period..

The number of tourists from India to the Maldives declined by almost 40 per cent during the January-March 2024 period as compared to the data from the same period in 2023. At the same time, the total number of tourists from China shot up by over 200 per cent.

The Maldives' Ministry of Tourism released its monthly report on tourist arrivals recently. The data showed the tourist arrivals in the island nation between January and March this year.

ALSO READ: How did China strengthen its bond with Maldives amid India exit? 10 key collaborations between Male, Beijing

The report revealed that as many as 56,208 Indian tourists had visited Maldives between January and March 2023. This number declined to 34,847 in the January-March 2024 period. This was a 38 per cent decline from 2023.

Meanwhile, 17,691 tourists from China visited Maldives during January-March 2023. The tally rose to 67,399 during January-March 2024 — recording a spike of 281 per cent.

ALSO READ: Maldives snubs India over hydrographic survey deal after signing military pact with China

As per the latest data, India ranks sixth in the top 10 markets for Maldives tourism, while China ranks No. 1 with an 11 per cent share.

The data holds significance as India once used to be a significant and top-most contributor to the Maldive's tourism statistics. Indians were only second to Russia in the chart showing tourist arrivals in the Maldives by nationality in January-November 2023. The increase in arrivals from India started in 2020, as compared to that from China.

Before 2020, people from China were leading the tourism charts in the Maldives. In 2020, China had an 18.31 per cent share among ‘Top Ten Markets Arrivals’ in Maldives, the highest that year.

India dominated the Maldives tourism market until December last year. Its position started declining starting January 2 this year, when India ranked third among the top 10 countries that make up most of the Maldives' tourism market share. India's rank further plunged to fifth on January 21 and then to sixth on March 3.

Since then , China has steadily climbed the chart from 10th to the first spot.

India-Maldives row

The drop in tourists from India was seen soon after Prime Minister Narendra Modi attempted to promote Laskhwadeep as a tourist destination, triggering a row in the Maldives in the first week of January this year. Later, Maldives' President Mohamed Muizzu requested India to withdraw its troops stationed in the island nation.

The declining number of tourists from India and the subsequent increase in that from China is in line with Muizzu's policies and deals that seem to snub India and welcome China.

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