Conference Tourism, Sight-Jogging, Devastation-Tourism, and Airport weddings to spice up the Maldivian tourism industry!

Instead of just talking about new concepts of tourism it is time that we start implementing such ideas in our islands. At a time when the outlook on tourism and other economic activities are bleak it is perhaps wise to broaden our tourism options so that we can attract a wider variety of tourists to our islands. Following is a list of tourism-ideas that we could develop with relatively little effort and investment.

1. Conference Tourism: Demolish “Dharubaaruge” and build a ten storey conference facility that could cater for all sorts of conferences. Another option could be to develop a resort close to Male that is completely custom designed to host conferences and accommodate delegates. The island of Aarah which was previously used as a Presidential retreat is an ideal island to develop in this was as a Conference Resort. Either way we could promote Maldives as a relatively affordable and attractive venue for hosting various conferences and business meetings of multi-national companies.

2. Sight-jogging: Male lacks interesting tourist attractions and activities. How about introducing a service called “Sight-jogging” for those tourists who are fitness fanatics. This isn’t an original idea of mine. In fact, if you’re a fitness-conscious athlete who is also a tourist traveling in Rome; you might want to sign up for “sight-jogging”. Sightjogging offers visitors a chance to put on their jogging shoes and take a guided tour of Rome’s main attractions. Multilingual trainers/guides will meet you at your hotel and take you jogging along predefined routes based on your interests (be it artistic, historic or naturalistic). We could adopt this idea for Male and take the tourists around Male in a predetermined route that will include all interesting tourist attractions in Male’.

3. Devastation-Tourism: On the aftermath of the crippling tsunami, we had the opportunity to preserve one of the devastated islands as a tourist attraction - a place where tourists could pay to visit and see for themselves the devastation of a tsunami. If we don’t have such an island now, then we could recreate such an island with a museum of photos and artifacts from the tsunami devastation. If this is not possible, how about promoting the Tsunami Monument near Lonuziyaraikolhu as a genuine tourist attraction. We could build a small souvenir shop near the tsunami-monument and sell souvenirs and tee shirts all related to the tsunami. This too isn’t a new idea of mine. If you are in the United States, then check out “devastation tourism” with a bus tour operator Gray Line New Orleans. The company gives a 3-hour “Hurricane Katrina” tour of the hurricane devastation of 2005. Tour route includes visits to Canal Street, the Superdome, and some of the neighborhoods affected badly by the disaster.


4. Airport weddings: How about allowing tourists (both local and international tourists the facility to get married at the Male International Airport. This idea is already in practice at Amsterdam Airport. This innovative tourist-idea at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol is to get married there. Whether a couple met on a flight to Bangkok or just wants to be able to go straight from ceremony to runway for their honeymoon, Schiphol Airport (Amsterdam) offers travelers the opportunity to get married at the airport. How about doing some research on this service and implement it at the Airport Hotel at Male International Airport? I’m sure even Maldivians who want to travel abroad for their honeymoon after the wedding would use this service and get married and even host the reception at the Airport Hotel before going for their honeymoon (possibly at the Airport Hotel or another local resort or even going abroad). Airport Weddings seem a cool and new idea indeed.

This list has just four ideas but there are numerous new ideas to broaden our tourism scope – ideas such as medical tourism, sports tourism, developing Dhoonidhoo Island as a resort for locals, building four or five storey buildings (hotels) at resorts, etc.
Conference Tourism, Sight-jogging, Devastation-Tourism and Airport weddings could be the start of many such new ideas for our tourism industry.

Will Obama speak in the Maldives?

There are reports that the new American President, Obama, will give a speech from a Muslim capital within his first 100 days. The New York Times says "The list of Islamic world capitals is long, and includes the obvious —Riyadh, Kuwait City, Islamabad — and the not-so-obvious — Male (the Maldives), Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso), Tashkent (Uzbekistan). However I believe that Maldives would be an ideal choice for many reasons:

1. Probably one of the only two 100% Muslim countries in the world.

2. Small and fragile country that, some environmental scientists say, could be wiped out from the face of the earth in another 50 to 100 years time. Due to this reason, Obama could use the same speech to attract world attention to the importance of environmental controls and legislation.

3. Being a founding member of SAARC, we could use our position as a Muslim country, to establish and amicable and working relationship with Afghanistan. Perhaps bring a refreshing perspective into it.

4. For the same reason in point 3 above, we could also work with Pakistan to counter the threat of terrorism and to bring Muslims and the US together.

5. The exoticness of Maldives could also add a different dimension to the speech and make it more effective in getting the message across.

For the above and for many other reasons, we suggest that the government Maldives approach the US embassy and try to arrange a visit to the Maldives by President Obama.
Maldives could indeed play a pivotal role in bridging the gap between the United States and the Muslim world.

Are we depending on India too much!

Though most people generally welcome the prospect of mega-Indian companies investing in various sectors in the Maldives, there are some voices who express concern that India and Indian mega-companies are being given too much control of our commerce sector and that this could, in the long run lead to the detriment of our national security and political independence.

The new government of President Nasheed (pic) should be commended for opening up our business sector and attracting foreign investment, but some analysts say that more effort should be put in to attract investors from other countries and regions such as the United States, Europe, Japan, China, the Middle East and more.
In a related story, Indian media reported that, India, the second-largest wheat producer in the world, recently eased a near 16-month-old ban to export 29,177 tonnes of wheat flours to Maldives.

"The prohibition imposed on export of wheat flour shall not be applicable to export of 29,177 tonnes of wheat flours during 2009-10 to Maldives through PEC Ltd," the Directorate General of Foreign Trade said in a notification. The shipment of wheat flours to Maldives followed the announcement by Minister of State for Food and Public Distribution Akhilesh Prasad Singh in December 2008 to export up to two million tonnes of wheat to friendly nations.

While India seems to be doing a lot to help Maldives ride the current wave of economic depression, it has to be said that we should not depend too much on India, lest we lose everything if India pulls the rug from under our feet if we do or say something that the Indians do not like.

President Nasheed – a benevolent (loving) dictator!

When President Nasheed declared Muleeaage as the official residence of the President, political critics such as Dr. Hassan Saeed said that it is unconstitutional to do so without amending the law. Wasn’t it Dr. Hassan who said that we could hold the Parliamentary elections even without ratifying the Elections Law? Wasn’t it Dr. Hassan who said that we can deal with drug addicts in contravention to the law because he felt that it was an ethical thing to do?

When it is convenient for Dr. Hassan, he says that it is alright to overlook the constitution and when someone else does so he is quick to criticise. If one follows the letter of the law to its full extent then it could be argued that President Nasheed should have waited for the amendment to the law before unilaterally deciding to move to Muleeaage. But we have to look at the spirit of the action. I’m sure that Dr. Hassan too would probably have moved to Muleeaage if he were elected President.

The same is true about the criticism coming from political foes such as Dr. Hassan regarding the declaration of provinces. We all agree that these things need to be incorporated into the law, but sometimes, depending on the political climate, the leadership of the country needs to move faster than the parliament who often drags its feet.

I would like to believe that we have embarked on a journey of “change” that needs daily – if not hourly – action and that we can’t wait for a Majlis who thinks that they are above everything (including the people of this country).

Judging from the signs I see, I think that President Nasheed is a benevolent dictator – the type of dictator that is actually good for a small country such as ours. Before you start shouting at me, let me give two examples of benevolent dictators. Number one that comes to mind if Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore. He sometimes stifled his political foes but above everything else he worked hard and brought prosperity and sincere goodness to Singapore. Not a single Singaporean will argue that Lee Kuan Yew was a bad leader even though he was sometimes “dictatorial”.!

The second example of such a leader is former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamed – two very similar leaders who put country first. Look at the results of their labour. Singapore is now officially a “developed” country, and Malaysia is expecet6d to be a “developed” country by 2020.

At a time when the Maldives and the Maldivians aspire to be the “Singapore of South Asia”, we have to have a decisive leader who doesn’t get entangled on the legal mumbo jumbo and rather take action first and worry about the consequences later. Such a leader would instinctively know what’s best for his country and act accordingly. We can never reach such height if we have legal fanatics such as Dr. Hassan or (Kutti) Nasheed at our helm.

Shout at me or verbally attack me for what ever you like, but I’m willing to stand on one limb and defend this controversial argument of mine. If you disagree with me it’s your problem, not mine.

As far as I’m concerned President Nasheed is a benevolent dictator – the type that we should welcome and trust. I agree that he is a bit rusty. But who wouldn’t be in the situation he finds himself in. Give him time and I believe that he would make us the next Singapore and put us really on the world map – not as an environmental casualty that Gayyoom portrayed us to be, but rather as a country with a solid economy and a dependable social support system and an ethical population that trusts in each other.

By the time we reach that level we would have ended our preoccupation with politics (as the Singaporeans have done) and start concentrating on economics and hard work and reaping the fruits of our labour. That’s our destiny, and I believe we have a leader who can take us there.

Nasheed should engineer a way to be invited to the white house and meet President Obama!

During his three-decade-long rule, President Gayyoom managed to visit a number of countries. He was seen at such high-profile places as the Downing Street and lectured at the United Nations. But one very important place that he was never invited to was the White House. It would be a great public relations coup for the new President (Nasheed) if he were able to engineer a way to be invited to the white house and meet President Obama.

President Obama has stated that the US is not an enemy of the Muslims. He has yet to show any substantial policy shifts to prove this claim, but being a hundred percent Muslim country, Maldives can play a bridging role of some sorts to bring the US and the Muslims to a common platform.

We could invite President Obama to visit and give a speech in the Maldives, calling for US-Muslim friendship. President Nasheed could then visit the White House and lecture at some of the US Universities or even at the US Senate. If this were to happen it wouldn’t be the first time that a leader of a relatively small country plays a prominent role in bringing the US and the Muslims together. We can recall the role of the former King of Jordan as an example. How about President Nasheed lending a hand in this? And, in return, the United States can help us in our development.

I would love to see our president sitting with the US president at the White House. That would indeed signal a quantum shift in world affairs. That would be a sign that the “Change” that we have all been seeking has indeed come. Yes we can!

Are we going to see a futuristic land reclamation project in the Maldives?

(Extracts from the article on http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article5604464.ece)

British newspaper Times online version quoted President Nasheed as saying that he recently met a visitor from Dubai! A businessman from the global investment company Dubai World - the company responsible for such futuristic land reclamation projects in the United Arab Emirates as the Palm Islands and the World — had come to discuss the possibility of building underwater resorts for tourists in the Maldives. Times reported that the President was reluctant to discuss the details of this meeting.
Are we going to see a futuristic land reclamation project in the Maldives? Perhaps the reclamation of a whole atoll such as Vaavu Atoll – as suggested in this blog?

(For a reference on the reclamation of Vaavu Atoll suggested in this blog, please visit http://mohamedbushry.blogspot.com/2009/01/building-ultimate-mega-island-for.html)