Indians top travellers to Maldives with over 2 lakh visitors annually; island nation’s leader says ‘boycott Maldives’ as travel destination will hit hard

Google search for Lakshadweep reaches its peak in last 20 years

Photo for representation. iStock

PTI

New Delhi, January 8

Over 2 lakh Indians visited Maldives annually in the last three years, the highest from any country post-COVID 19 pandemic, according to the official data amid calls from several quarters to boycott the island nation as a travel destination following a diplomatic row between the two nations.

According to the Maldives Tourism Ministry statistics, over 17 lakh tourists visited the island nation in 2023, out of which more than 2,09,198 visitors were Indians followed by Russians (2,09,146) and Chinese (1,87,118).

The number of Indian visitors was more than 2.4 lakh in 2022 and 2.11 lakh in 2021. The Maldives was also one of the few countries open for international tourists during the pandemic and nearly 63,000 Indians visited the country during that period.

In 2018, India was the fifth-largest source of tourist arrivals in Maldives with 90,474 visitors. In 2019, India reached the second spot with 1.66 lakh Indians visiting the country.

However, this travel hotspot for Indians is now facing a backlash after three ministers from the Maldives cabinet made derogatory comments against Prime Minister Narendra Modi following his visit to Lakshadweep last week.

Many netizens on social media claimed that they have cancelled their scheduled trips to Maldives because of the row with the hashtag ‘Boycott Maldives’ trending.

Joining the boycott campaign, EaseMyTrip, an online travel aggregator, said it has suspended all flight bookings to the island nation on its website “in solidarity” with India.

Meanwhile, the Maldivian government suspended its deputy ministers on Sunday after they criticised PM Modi, inferring that it was an attempt to project the union territory as an alternative tourist destination to Maldives.

The Maldivian foreign ministry said the government is aware of “derogatory remarks” made on social media platforms against foreign leaders and that the personal views do not represent the country’s position.

Amid the row, many prominent personalities, such as cine stars Amitabh Bachchan, Salman Khan and Akshay Kumar and cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar, appealed to people to explore Indian islands and coastal destinations.

Situated in the middle of the Indian Ocean, Maldives is home to nearly 1,200 tiny coral islands that stretch along a length of 871 km. From personalised spa treatments, adventure sports activities to world-class cuisine, Maldives offers myriad experiences, making it a great choice for visitors.

The beautiful beaches and island experience, coupled with affordable airfare that is cheaper than the cost of travel to some Indian cities, have been a big draw for Indian tourists.

Also, on Monday, India summoned Maldivian envoy to the external affairs ministry here and conveyed strong concern over the remarks against the prime minister.

Former Maldivian sports minister Ahmed Mahloof has expressed concern over the row, saying “Indians boycotting the Maldives” would hit the country hard.

“I am deeply worried about the escalating situation regarding the comments about our closest neighbour. Indians boycotting Maldives would have a huge impact on our economy. It would be hard for us to recover from such a campaign. I call on the government to swiftly take serious action to solve the issue as soon as possible,” he said on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the worldwide search interest for Lakshadweep reached its peak in the last 20 years, according to Google Trends.