Over the last three weeks, the Maldivian tourism market has seen a notable drop in the number of tourists visiting from India. So much so, that India dropped to 5th rank on the Maldives’ top 10 tourism shareholders list. While this might not seem much, it is a big drop since India used to top this list till December 2023!
India Drops To 5th Place, Russia Takes Over The First Place
The first significant aftermath of the entire India-Maldives diplomatic tension has emerged. India, which used to be the biggest tourism contributor for Maldives, has seen a massive drop in the number of visitors over the last few weeks. As per the official Maldivian government data, India slipped to 5th position (ranked no.1 in 2023). Released on January 28, these rankings are based on the number of arrivals in Maldives over the past three weeks. This data also is a reflection of the diplomatic relations between the two countries right now.
India still accounts for 8% market share in Maldives tourism market. Russia has taken over India with a 10.6% market share in Maldives, they were earlier ranked no. 2. Italy ranks below Russia on the list, taking up the second position followed by China and the UK on no. 3 and 4, respectively.
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What Went Wrong Between The Two Countries
Till December 31, 2023, India topped this list and made for the largest share of tourists in Maldives. However, this demographic changed after the diplomatic fallout between the two countries. PM Narendra Modi visited Lakshadweep earlier this month and posted his experience on his social media handles. Seeing that three ministers from the Maldives posted derogatory comments on the PM post that started a #BoycottMaldives wave in India. The sentiment was so high that EaseMyTrip even suspended flight bookings to Maldives on its platform. While the comments were deleted later, the Internet doesn’t forget.
At the beginning of 2024, India was the third largest contributor to Maldives tourism with a 7.1% share. Since this diplomatic row, it has now slipped to 5th position.
What do you think about this entire row? Leave your thoughts in the comments!
Cover Image Courtesy: Canva
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