Guesthouses of Maafushi Island in Kaafu Atoll win big at the first ever Maldives Travel Awards: Guest House Edition 2017. Organized by Maldives Association of Travel Agents and Tour Operators (MATATO), the award ceremony was attended by notables of the local tourism industry.
In a span of less than a decade, guest house ventures in Maldives have flourished as one of the fastest growing businesses in the country, in addition to bringing a wave of wealth to local communities. A total of 15 awards were conferred at the first ever Maldives Travel Awards: Guest House Edition 2017, organized by Maldives Association of Travel Agents and Tour Operators (MATATO).
Most of the prestigious awards of the night were won by the guest houses of Maafushi Island of Kaafu Atoll. While Maafushi won the award for the Leading Guest House Island, the most prestigious award of the night the award for the Leading Guest House was won by the Arena Beach Hotel operated in Maafushi Island. In addition, the Arena Beach Hotel and Kaani Hotel of Maafushi won the award for both Leading Guest House Brand and Most Supportive Guest House, respectively. Velana Beach of Maafushi won the award for the Leading Innovative Guest House at the awarding ceremony.
MATATO Guest House Edition also recognised and conferred awards for the Leading Guest House in Diving and Water Sports, Leading Food and Beverage Guest House, Leading Heritage Guest House, Leading Business Guest House and Leading Transport Provider. The winners of the Guest House Edition described the award as a boost to the services they provide and expressed the importance of such recognition.
The hard work exerted by the guest house industry of Maldives was the inspiration behind the Guest House Edition to the Maldives Travel Awards, said the President of MATATO Abdullah Giyas while addressing the awarding ceremony. Ghiyas added that MATATO aims to expand its horizon from just being an awarding authority and highlighted that it has been a record breaking year for MATATO in many ways. On this note, he noted that MATATO has participated in a total of 12 travel trade shows and aims to increase the number to 19 next year.
A record breaking 80,000 votes were received for the Maldives Travel Awards: Guest House Edition 2017, MATATO revealed. In the awarding night, national telecommunication company, Dhiraagu was also conferred with the award for the Leading Guest House Development Partner. Next edition in the series of Maldives Travel Awards is the Gala and Awards Ceremony 2017 where 27 awards would be conferred from over 230 nominations.