Indian High Commissioner lays foundation for hotel

Indian High Commissioner Dnyaneshwar Mulay today laid the foundation stone for a hotel to be built in Hulhumale’ by a Maldivian company.

The ceremony was held at the main road area in Hulhumale’, where the hotel will be constructed.

The investment for the hotel is made by a Maldivian Ahmed Patel, who is married to an Indian and has lived in India for thirty years.

The Maldivian partner of the project, Insel Maldives Private Limited said that it will be four-storey building with terrace.

Ahmed Patel told Sun Online after the ceremony today that the purpose of investing in this hotel is to serve the Maldives.

“It has been a long time since I started living in India. Now my children are all grown up, so I have time to think about other things. Maldives is where I was born. So I believe that I should do something for Maldives, that’s why I decided to do this,” Ahmed Patel said.

He expressed gratitude to Mulay for laying the foundation for the hotel, and said that Mulay gives great priority to the development of Maldives.

“I live in Bombay, and our High Commissioner is from the same state. So I think he is the best person to initiate this project. Also Mulay provides a lot of assistance for the development of Maldives. It is good fortune that such a person could lay the foundation for this hotel,” Ahmed Patel said.

Referring to the tourism industry in Maldives, he said that its focus needs to be changed from high market to middle market.

“Tourism in Maldives caters only to the high market. But I believe that failure to focus on the middle market today will be harmful to the industry in the future. Our project focuses on middle-class tourism,” he said.

High Commission Mulay said after the ceremony that Hulhumale’ is a relaxing place, and expressed hope that construction of the hotel will be completed soon.

Insel Maldives said that the construction should be completed in about one year, and that it will be opened around June next year.