Tourism Minister Moosa Zameer on Tuesday said the country’s tourism industry was seeing significant growth.
Speaking at a forum held on the occasion of World Tourism Day, he said “more international brands are expected to open properties in the Maldives during the next five years.”
Speaking about the forum, Zameer said it was aimed at providing a platform for key tourism industry stakeholders and government policymakers to share views, knowledge and experience focusing on tourism to come to an understating for better development policies and strategies.
He said discussions at the forum were focused on 3 main areas: tourism and environment, tourism and human resource development, and tourism and aviation.
Speaking further, Zameer said “the Tourism Marketing Master Plan, which is currently being drawn up, seeks to further promote the country’s tourism sector and attract higher numbers of visitors.”
At the forum held at Dharubaaruge Convention Centre in Male’ City, 30 resort islands from across the country pledged to designate parts of their reefs as biosphere reserves.
The Tourism Ministry said that designation of protected areas around resort islands would further boost the country’s global reputation and help efforts to promote the tourism industry.