The Maldives Launches the Third Tourism Master Plan |
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The Maldives Third Tourism Master Plan 2007-2011 was officially launched on 14th August 2007 at a ceremony held in Hanimaadhoo, Haa Dhaalu Atoll. The ceremony officiated by President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom was attended, among others, by representatives of the Maldives Association of Tourism Industry (MATI), the Maldives Association of Travel Agents and Tour Operators (MATATO), airlines operating in and into the Maldives, foreign tour operators and relevant Government Ministries and agencies. Among the invitees were also representatives of island offices, island development committees and women’s committees from the three northern-most atolls of Haa Alifu, Haa Dhaalu and Shaviyani. The thrust of the Maldives Third Tourism Master Plan is on expanding and strengthening the Maldives tourism as an instrument of economic and social development in a manner that benefits all Maldivians in all parts of the country. The Plan stresses the development of the industry along the lines of sustainability, adopting environmentally and socially responsible tourism practices. Accordingly, the Plan emphasises developing tourism in harmony with nature, facilitating and enhancing private sector investment, developing human resources, creating greater employment opportunities and diversifying markets and products. Contrary to previous Plans, the Third Tourism Master Plan is formulated as a "living document” to ensure its responsiveness to rapid changes in the Maldivian economy and global trends in the industry. The Plan, unlike the two previous Plans, stipulates strategies and actions along with target dates and performance measures in achieving the goals of the Plan specified in Section One. This year the Maldives celebrates 35 years of tourism in the country.
(.visitmaldives.com) You have to hand it to the Maldivians. Here, on a far-flung archipelago of low coral atolls in the Indian Ocean, they have raised the notion of the private island resort to a fine art. The conservative Islamic nation encompasses nearly 1,200 islands stretched over some 35,000 square miles, but the scantily clad, beach-going overseas visitors are steered (and pretty much restricted) to about 90 small resort islands. These cater to an upscale clientele looking for a tropical getaway where the thatched huts come with fine linens and haute cuisine.
So what's paradise like, Maldives-style? In the small, crowded capital of Male, you can visit mosques and bustling street markets. But the outer isles are really a place for quiet comforts and doing less, not more. Aside from white-sand beaches and the amenities of a tropical resort, there's first-class diving, good fishing, and phenomenal surfing (a recent discovery among globe-trotting wave chasers). Whether enjoyed in slow - or slower - mode, these islands are a blue-lagoon getaway far from the outside world. Maldives
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