Pieces Of Land Surrounded By Demand

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   The Maldivian Government made a decision to allocate 35 islands more for hotel construction. German FVW reported new resorts would be open within the confines of tourism development program initiated after the tsunami in December 2004. Thus, in the nearest five years, according to Minister of Tourism of the Maldives, Mahmood Shaugee, 4, 000 – 7, 000 new hotel rooms will appear, including in lux hotels, on ten islands. The rest 25 islands will be allocated for 5* and 4* hotels. As a result the problem regarding shortage of hotel rooms will be partly resolved, said the Maldivian Government.
    However, the changes might not contribute into the Russian travel market. A BANKO correspondent found out that Russian tour operators doubt making contracts with newly opened hotels. Representatives of Konnaisance Travel commented the situation as follows: ‘Maldivian tour operators will come to MITT exhibition and will probably offer something new, but it may turn out that it will not happen’.
    Experts believe that balance in the travel market and present contracts with partners will influence the situation. According to travel market players Russian tour operators experience the shortage of hotels in the Maldives due to local hoteliers who prefer to make contracts with the Germans, Japanese, English, Italians and Australians. There were no problems with bookings for Russian tourists only during the after tsunami period when the Governments of those countries recommended their tourists to withhold from traveling to the Maldives. However, the situation stabilized soon followed by shortage of hotel rooms.