Tourism Personality of the Year was an award for the Maldivian people: Adheeb

Minister for Tourism, Arts and Culture Ahmed Adheeb Abdul Gafoor has said the Travel and Tourism Personality of the Year award by the World Travel Awards was not bestowed upon himself alone, but also to all the people of Maldives.

Adheeb said that award was the result of hard work at a time of numerous difficulties and obstacles.

“This award that I received, I would like to say that, the way I see it, it was an award for all the people of Maldives. The entire country, through unrest and all, this shows the result of the work we have done,” Adheeb told Sun.

Different actors in the Maldives tourism industry won 22 different places in the World Travel Awards 2013 Indian Ocean category, out of a total of 33 awards. Adheeb said that the award was a great encouragement, especially at a time when a number of parties are working against the government and Maldives tourism.

“This a big encouragement, because international parties have recognized us. This includes the work of the people of the industry, the President and members of his cabinet, and all the people from the coalition parties. I will have to say that a number of people also worked against us. But we were able to overcome all this, and this a very complete achievement,” Adheeb said.

The Tourism Minister also said that being able to host the World Travel Awards 2013, a time of budget constraints in other difficulties, would result in “free marketing” and other benefits for the Maldives. He said that the achievements and dominance of the Maldives in the Indian Ocean tourism was a display for the Maldivian people and that the event itself was very successful.