President: Maldives’ tourism tales must be preserved for future generations

The facts surrounding the birth of tourism in Maldives must be written down and preserved for the future generations, states President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.

He made the remark while speaking at the Tourism Golden Year Gala Evening held at Kurumba Maldives on Monday evening to celebrate 50 years of tourism in Maldives.

In his speech, President Solih said the future generations must understand the challenges Maldivian tourism pioneers faced and the courage they showed.

The venue for the gala – Kurumba Maldives – is Maldives’ first resort – which opened on October 3, 1972.

President Solih said the biggest transformation to the Maldivian tourism sector was seen in the 1980s – due to the hard work of the people who joined the sector.

“We especially note the positive changes to the sector with investments from Honorable Qasim Ibrahim,” he said.

President Solih said that guesthouses, though few in number, had popped up near Male’ when Kurumba opened in 1972.

“But then we saw a complete cease in operation of guesthouses in residential islands,” he said.

He said that guesthouse operations expanded across Maldives in 2008, with a significant shift in policies during former President Mohamed Nasheed’s administration.

Islands across Maldives continue to reap the benefits from this, he said.

President Solih said that the role of any government is to design national policies that can be implemented through the legislative system, and that the Maldivian tourism sector became world-renowned because the private sector had complete autonomy over its development.

He encouraged future generations to join the tourism sector.

He also thanked the people involved in promoting the tourism sector.

“Its not easy for me to name each and every one of them. But they include people like Sun Travel Siyam and Sun Lane Group who I see before me. I note their valuable and hard work, and thank them individually,” he said.

He also thanked foreign investors such as Sonu Shivdasan – the CEO of Soneva – for making Maldivian tourism a world-class luxury product.

President Solih expressed his heartfelt gratitude to all those involved in promoting Maldives’ tourism sector, including resort owners and operators, guesthouse operators, those who run liveaboards and dive centers, as well as travel agents, performing artists, and all tourism sector employees, and credited their efforts with the country's economic success.

The world now recognizes that the Maldives caters to all types of tourists, from luxury resorts to medium-sized businesses, he said.

During the gala, the President conferred the President’s Tourism Gold Award to 77 individuals.