The disparaging comments made by three Maldivian ministers against Prime Minister Narendra Modi have cost the island nation's tourist sector dearly with Indian tour operators claiming that there are no new enquiries by people for visits to the Maldives.
The development comes as the relations between India and the Maldives dipped to an all-time low with three ministers passing racist and xenophobic comments against Modi. Following this, the Maldives suspended all three ministers, Mariyam Shiuna, Malsha Shareef, and Mahzoom Majid, from their posts.
According to the Indian Association of Tour Operators, the repercussions of recent events and the call for a boycott will become apparent within the next 20-25 days. "Suddenly, there has been no inquiry on the Maldives. There are sudden drops. Those who have made payments will not cancel them. We are expecting that people will not book trips to the Maldives," Rajiv Mehra, president of the Indian Association of Tour Operators, said.
Though many took to social media claiming to have cancelled their trip to the Maldives, tour operators deny reports of mass cancellations. "If a person has paid an advance for plane tickets and hotels, they will not cancel it," added Mehra. "The real impact of the boycott will be visible in the next 25 days as there are no new inquiries," he added.
The founder of Make My Trip, Deep Kalra, also claimed that there has been no mass cancellation of planned holidays by Indians to the island nation. "We have not noticed such a pattern as of now. There has been no such mass cancellation," Kalra said.
The Maldives was a popular destination among Indian tourists and according to data from the country’s tourism ministry, the largest number of tourists who visited the Maldives were from India (2,09,198), followed by Russia (2,09,146) and China (1,87,118).
"The Maldives is quite popular among Indians. But this incident will have an impact. We are also seeing an impact right now as well. We are expecting a downfall in people choosing the Maldives as a tourist destination," a Delhi-based tour operator told ANI on the condition of anonymity.
Meanwhile, online travel solutions provider EaseMyTrip has announced that they would suspend all Maldives flight bookings following the derogatory remarks made by some ministers against India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Nishant Pitti, co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of the Indian online travel company, took to X to announce his decision. "In solidarity with our nation, @EaseMyTrip has suspended all Maldives flight bookings," his post read.
EaseMyTrip has also begun to promote Lakshadweep as the next destination by tweeting #ChaloLakshadweep. Co-founder Prashant Pitti wrote, "Water & beaches of Lakshadweep are as good as Maldives/Seychelles. We at @EaseMyTrip will come up with crazy special offers to promote this pristine destination that our PM @narendramodi has recently visited."
