Author: Mohamed Reehaan

Atmosphere Core, an international hospitality company with its property portfolio extending to the Maldives, took home four highly-coveted trophies at the 2024 World Travel Awards (WTA). The company’s ultra-luxury brand, THE OZEN COLLECTION secured two awards, with OZEN Life Maadhoo receiving Indian Ocean’s Leading Villa Resort award, while Royal Reserve at OZEN Reserve Bolifushi was named Maldives’ Leading Luxury Hotel Villa. Besides this, two properties falling under Atmosphere Core’s Atmosphere Hotels & Resorts brand received recognition as well. As such, Atmosphere Kanifushi won Maldives’ Leading Family Resort, making this the fifth consecutive win for the property from 2020 to 2024.…

Tourist arrivals from China has reached over 87,000 as per the latest tourist arrival update from the Ministry of Tourism. According to the Ministry, the annual arrival total has reached 809,817 as of May 08, 2024, which is an 11.8% increment over the corresponding period last year, during which arrivals stood at 724,631. China maintains dominance while Russia is trailing closely behind in second spot with a little over 80,000 arrivals so far while UK is in third place with over 77,000 arrivals. Top 10 Markets CHINA – 87,566 RUSSIA – 80,698 UK – 77,273 ITALY – 71,693 GERMANY -…

According to the Ministry of Finance, the cumulative total of state expenditure has reached MVR 12.6 billion as of April 25, 2024. By the same review date, the state revenues inclusive of grants reached MV 11.2 billion; because of which the overall balance for the period is a deficit of MVR 1.4 billion. The cumulative tax revenues for the review date is MVR 9.3 billion, which is higher than the MVR 8.1 billion observed the same period last year. On the other hand, the cumulative total of non-tax revenues saw a decline from MVR 2.7 billion in 2023 to MVR…

The government of Maldives has requested for a leniency on the outstanding loans extended by the Indian government. The Indian government extended USD 200 million to the Maldives for budget support in 2019, out of which USD 50 million has already been paid, confirmed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Moosa Zameer. The state has requested a rollover on the USD 150 million Maldives still owed out of this total. Zameer made the request during his recent official visit to India, where he met with the Indian External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar to discuss on various topics, including the…

State Trading Organization (STO) on Thursday, has supplied over 71,000 staple food bags in April 2024. According to the largest SOE in the Maldives, it has delivered the following; Rice – 32,710 bags Flour – 24,390 bags Sugar – 14,512 bags The company further noted that it made 1,264 deliveries in Greater Male’ Area during the review month; this include 17,397 bags of rice, 11,058 bags of flour, and 7,597 bags of sugar. STO Regional outlets made five major deliveries, that include 4,400 bags of flour, 1,500 bags of rice, and 1,330 bags of sugar. Additionally, STO’s regional agents made…

The Minister of Tourism Ibrahim Faisal addressed the 31st edition of the Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2024, hosted at the Dubai World Trade Center from May 06 to 09, 2024. At the travel trade fair, the Minister in his remarks shared the Maldives’ visionary goals of achieving an ambitious 6.5% growth in tourist arrivals. He reflected on the five-year Tourism Master Plan, which foresees 2 million visitors and a staggering USD 6 billion in annual receipts by 2027. He also highlighted the recent developments in the tourism plan, and said that “today, our vision extends beyond luxury.” “We recognize the…

The OBLU SELECT Lobigili has been crowned No. 1 Luxury Hotel globally and No. 2 Hotel in the coveted TripAdvisor Travellers’ Choice Awards 2024. The property received ‘Hottest New Hotel’ recognition at last year’s Traveller Choice Awards, making this year’s win a step forward. The Travellers’ Choice Awards “Best of the Best” celebrates the highest level of excellence in travel, and is awarded to hotels and resorts that receive a high volume of above-and-beyond reviews and opinions from the TripAdvisor community over a 12-month period. Out of 8 million listings, less than 1% of listed hotels achieve this accolade. Speaking…

Hot in the trails of the recent TTG Awards 2024 nomination, both THE OZEN COLLECTION properties; OZEN Life Maadhoo and OZEN Reserve Bolifushi, have been selected as finalists for ‘Best Global Resort’ in Conde Nast’s 2024 Traveller’s Choice Awards. With this, the two OZEN Collection properties will be facing head to head vying for the prestigious recognition. Speaking about the nomination of two of the properties, Falaaz Ismail, the Assistant vice President of Sales of THE OZEN COLLECTION said, “With the recent announcement for the TTG Award in Russia and now inclusion in the globally-recognized Conde Nast award, is clear…

Maldivian, the national airline of the Maldives announced the arrival of its newest addition to the fleet; the fourth ATR 42-600 aircraft. The newest addition to the Maldivian fleet landed at the Velana International Airport (VIA) on Wednesday, May 08, 2024, which was welcomed through a special ceremony attended by distinguished guests, officials and key partners. The new ATR will enhance the airline’s capacity to serve more routes and provide increased connectivity to both locals and tourists. The expansion stands as testament to Maldivian’s commitment to offer exceptional service and convenience to its passengers. While speaking at the ceremony, Maldivian’s…

Maldives Fund Management Corporation (MFMC) has announced the reclamation of 16 islands at K. Gaafaru Falhu. MFMC contracted Atoll Works Private Limited on Wednesday, May 08, 2024. MFMC announced under the project, 14 private islands and two luxury resorts will be developed at Gaafaru Falhu. Additionally, 40 hectares of land will be reclaimed under the project. The large scale reclamation comprises of 106.91 hectares of land, making it the largest reclamation initiative in a single lagoon. The USD 36,503,863.92 million project consists of dredging 3,747,792 cubic meters of sand, construction of revetment, along with associated components. MFMC said that at…