The Government is calling the opposition “disingenuous”, and accusing them of calls to boycott the country’s tourism and steering smear campaigns against top Government officials. In addition to tourism boycotts, the Government said the opposition is also spreading false information through the international media, accusing the Government of recruiting and harbouring terror cells and sponsoring terrorism and violent extremism. The opposition is also spreading what the Government calls “falsified and baseless” allegations of widespread corruption in the Government. One of the latest such attempts reported in the international media was about an attempt by the opposition to overthrow the Government.
Tourism Minister Moosa Zameer, in an exclusive interview with PSM News, said tourism boycotts, smear campaigns against top Government officials, and spreading “false and baseless” information through the international media is having a heavy impact on the country’s economy. Zameer explained that such attempts cause financial losses for the Government, as it is forced to spend hefty sums on tourism promotion activities, which in turn effects spending on developmental projects.
“Negative reporting impacts our tourism, but we are working very hard with our PR agencies based in key source markets, and we will continue to do that. I know we have our competitors, as well as the opposition who are continuously doing this,” Zameer said. “And all those false allegations and rumours made by [the opposition] have no basis,” he added.
The Government says the opposition’s plan is to tarnish the image and reputation of the Government, and cause destroy the country’s tourism sector and economy. Zameer however said, the Government is undertaking every effort, and will thwart the opposition’s plans. Zameer said that “we will work very hard through our PR agencies, we will attend all the major tourism fairs, and promote the Maldives and we will achieve our objectives.”
The Tourism Minsiter added that “we have challenges, and we will overcome those challenges.” He further said that "the government is aware of what’s happening elsewhere in the world, and how the opposition, our own people are working to erode our tourism development in the Maldives. We understand that, but we will continue to strive hard and achieve our objectives”.
The Maldives is marking this year as Visit Maldives Year, with a target to attract over 1.5 million tourists. Zameer however said, tourism boycotts and other factors may force the country to revise this target. Tourism is the largest economic industry in the country, and targeting the tourism sector can do irreparable damage to the country’s economy.