This is not my normal approach of blogging but today I am writing a direct reply to a recent article on Telegraph UK, where the heading read “British tourists turn their back on the Maldives” and some comments that followed.
The header of the article did not really make justice and gave a misperception on the whole image of Maldives. The article was written to highlight the negative growth in tourist arrival to Maldives from the United Kingdom in July 2008.
The reason for the slight decline in arrival from UK is not necessarily because Britons dislike Maldives or they are afraid to travel to Maldives. The reason is because the Britons are not making holiday decision due to the uncertain economic conditions in the UK.
I am not an economic expert but I can say that UK is going through a major economic problem mainly due to a slump in housing sector and fuel saga amongst other factors. Britons are making their long haul holiday decisions very late. The market used to be a six month lead-time bookers but it has now gone down to six weeks. This makes it difficult for suppliers to provide accommodation for the demand as most of the hotels will probably be full with other feeder markets. Something to support this is the increased number of tourists from Russia and China to the Maldives during July.
If Britons are willing to travel to Maldives I have an advice to them: – please call your Government to give you a rebate on fuel surcharge that will increase your disposable income so that you can make an early decision to book your holiday in the beautiful Maldives. Fuel price is going down and will hopefully settle to the norm by beginning of next year. Already some airlines have started cutting down on fuel surcharge, which is good news for the holidaymakers.
Finally, I believe there is a responsibility of our Tourism Promotion Board and the Ministry of Tourism to provide analytical data and sense making information to the press. This will ensure journalists and writers don’t carry mixed bags of information and will write based on facts. God Bless You, and God Bless the Maldives!
Nabee,
V. Good. Besides for few grammatical errors this is a B+. Keep up the good work. Next time try to be a bit more philosophical. People will think you are great if you do so.
And you can run for the president after 2038. That is if you can cut the arrogance out by then.
Hi Rabee-ul-Awwal, thanks for your comment. I will ask my editor to keep an eye on the gramme side, as English is my third language. Re the president we can talk separately
God Bless You !
Good reserch and I do agree that the relevant authorities have a responsbiity to divulge correct statistical data to avoid this kind of misconception, I have seen a steady growth in the British Market in the recent past, so I am not sure what the UK Telegraph is talking about!!