Author: Mohamed Reehaan
Soneva Fushi has once again been selected by The World’s 50 Best Hotels, ranking 8th; becoming the only Maldivian resort to make it to the top-50 list. The resort also landed the Lost Explorer Best Beach Hotel Award for the second consecutive year. “I am delighted that Soneva Fushi has been recognized once again by The World’s 50 Best Hotels as number 8 in the world, the ‘World’s Best Beach Resort’ for the second year in a row, and once again the only Maldives property in the top 50 list,” said Sonu Shivdasani, CEO and co-founder of Soneva. “At Soneva,…
The Bank of Maldives (BML) is celebrating 20 years of exclusive partnership with American Express. While the celebratory kick-off event was held in July, the bank announced a promotion for its American Express Credit cardholders on Monday, as part of the series of activities. Cardmembers can spend a minimum of MVR 3,000 to qualify for a lucky draw to win 20,000 BML rewards points, which can be used for flight, car or hotel bookings or to purchase gift cards from local and international merchants including Amazon, Apple, and Spotify. “We are proud to have introduced the first credit card in…
The State Bank of India (SBI) has subscribed the USD 50 million government treasury bill (T-bills) for one more year. Subscription of the T-bills, issued by the Ministry of Finance, was extended by one more year from the date of maturity of the previous subscription, which is this Thursday. Similarly, SBI had subscribed to a USD 50 million T-bills under the same mechanism earlier in May 2024, which too was on the request of the Maldives government much like the one on Thursday. “These subscriptions have been made at the special request of the Government of Maldives as emergency financial…
International bunkering services commences officially, for the first time ever, in the Maldives on Thursday, September 19, 2024. Bunkering is poised as a major economic industry for the Maldives, that will reportedly increase the state’s earnings by USD 400 million annually, and create tens of thousands of new job opportunities. The new initiative is a key vision of President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu as well. The bunkering services, at Ihavandhippolhu – the northern-most tip of the Maldives – was officially launched by upper-north MPs. The opening ceremony was attended by State Trading Organization (STO) Managing Director Shimad Ibrahim, Maldives Ports Limited…
The Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC/Visit Maldives) has showcased the island nation’s tourism industry and its offerings in the French market at the IFTM Top Resa 2024. This year’s Top Resa was held from September 17 to 19 in Paris, France. MMPRC was joined by a total of 35 representatives from 21 companies from the Maldivian tourism sector. Activities conducted at IFTM Top Resa included engagements with travel trade partners and potential agents, which included scheduled meetings. Besides this, a raffle offering free holidays in the Maldives was sponsored by Brennia Kottefaru, Joy Island Maldives by The Cocoon…
The State Trading Organization (STO), on Monday revealed it is ready to launch the Maldives’ first-ever international bunkering services on September 19, 2024. STO in a statement confirmed it has already made all the preparations in association with key government agencies; necessary prerequisites prior the commencement of the service. Besides bunkering, the facility will cater to vessels with other services, and STO said they have already started receiving bookings for the service. STO added that following the service launch, it would seek options of expansion as well. Bunkering is primarily available in Sri Lanka and India in the Indian sub-continent.…
Trade between the Maldives and China will increase to USD 1 billion per annum with the implementation of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the two countries, said President’s Office Spokesperson Heena Waleed. She said this at a press conference on Monday, where Heena remarked the FTA implementation between both countries will increase benefits for businesses and the public. The two countries already engage in bilateral trade worth over USD 700 million per annum, Heena noted, and said that the FTA implementation would see this figure rise up to USD 1 billion. She further said that the agreement will also…
Maldivian, the country’s national carrier, has announced its flights can now be booked directly from Trip.com effective September 13, 2024. This is a notable leap for the flagship carrier, making its services even more accessible to travelers around the globe. This partnership with Trip.com, Maldivian said, both strengthens the airline’s presence in the online space and open new opportunities for passengers to visit the Maldives with ease.
Let’s Go Maldives has been officially appointed as the General Sales Agent (GSA) for Air Arabia in the Maldives. This appointment marks a significant milestone in strengthening Air Arabia’s presence in the Maldives, while driving up the arrival figures from the market and offering travelers the service of cost-effective travel solutions. Let’s Go Maldives will be responsible for all sales, marketing, and operational activities related to Air Arabia in the Maldives. These responsibilities include handling the following; Ticketing Reservations Outbound Travel package sales “We are excited to represent Air Arabia in the Maldives. This partnership allows us to support travelers…
The Maldives government, via the Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA), collected a revenue of MVR 1.98 billion for the month of August 2024, a 24% increment from the corresponding month of 2023. Out of the total, 62.82 million was collected in US dollars. MIRA reports this increase is mainly due to the significant increment in Non-Resident Withholding Tax, Corporate Income Tax, GST and Green Tax. Receipt of Capital Gains Withholding Tax in August and late payment of Income Tax from Corporate and non-individual led to the favorable outcome in the review month. Moreover, tourist arrivals for July 2024 increased by…