Maldives Tourism Planning and Development

Contents Page

1.Contents Page………………………………………………………………..1

2.Terms of reference……………………………………………………………2

3.Executive Summary ………………………………………………………… 3

4.Introduction………………………………………………………………….,,  4-5

5.Methodology………………………………………………………………….  6

6.Findings………………………………………………………………………. 7-

6.1Tourism planning……………………………………………………………

6.2 Tourism development ……………………………………………………..

6.3 Development strategies……………………………………………………

7.Conclusion…………………………………………………………………….

8.References…………………………………………………………………….

9.Appendices……………………………………………………………………

2. Terms of Reference

This report is requirement of Tourism Planning, Development and Management module of International Hospitality Management Degree. It will be assessed by module co-ordinator – Professor Stephen Boyd.

3. Executive Summary

The purpose of this report is to research how chosen destination which is Maldives was planned for tourism and what strategies it has followed over time of development. Method of analysis includes review of different books, online journals, reports and websites. Different pictures, graphs and charts were used to simplify understanding and present findings. Findings from literature review shows that Maldives is strongly dependant on tourism industry. It is largest industry, and it plays an important role in Maldives’ economy by contributing directly to it.

4. Introduction

The Maldives is officially known as Republic of Maldives, it belongs to continent of Asia and located in the Indian Ocean just above equator. The Maldives comprises of 26 natural atolls which are made up of 1 190 tropical island. Of these, 194 are inhabited. (Visit Maldives.com,2018)

  (Picture1 Guest houses in Maldives,2018)

Each of islands has a pristine white sandy beach, lagoon and is surrounded by colourful reefs of coral. (Ellis,2005) Maldives operates policy of “One Island, one resort” which means that there is only one resort/hotel on each island and them is self-sustained providing maximum privacy to the guest. (Hussian,2016).

Maldives is strongly dependant on tourism industry. It is largest industry, and it plays an important role in Maldives’ economy by contributing directly to GDP- 39.6 % in 2017 with intend to increase by 2.5% in 2018. It is forecasted to rise by 5.7% per year and contribute 86.1% of GDP in 2028. In 2017 tourism industry directly supported 34,500 jobs which is 16.0% of total employment. This is expected to remain unchanged in 2018 and rise by 3.1% per year to 47,000 jobs and 19.2% of total employment in 2028. (WTTC, 2018)

According to Naville (2008) Maldives is one of truly great holiday destinations of the world. The variety is offers under the sun and water will keep visitors coming back for years.

5. Methodology

This report is focusing on planning and developing tourism in Maldives. Aims and objectives of this report were to find out how tourism development was planned in Maldives as well as what development strategies were used to make Maldives popular tourism destination. To obtain research for this report, researcher decided to focus on number of secondary research materials such us books, journals, online reports and websites. According to Heaton (2008) secondary research involves the re-use of pre-existing qualitative data derived from previous research studies. Secondary analysis can be used to test hypotheses, to generate new knowledge and to support, challenge and extend existing theories or findings (Heaton,2008). As Maldives is located in continent of Asia, researcher believed it would be very hard and nearly impossible to collect primary research. According to (Wild, Diggines,2009) primary research is data that has not been collected before(…), it did not previously exist. Primary data can be collected in number of ways including surveys, observation, focus groups and interviews. (Wild, Diggines,2009)

6. Findings

6.1. Tourism Planning

According to Getz (1986) tourism planning is a process based on research and evaluation, which seeks to optimize the potential contribution of tourism to human welfare and environmental quality. According to Gunn (1994) planning is something ‘regulated’ and so tourism planning will be regulated to land-use planning. Planning for tourism is all about destination, it should be good for local community and environment shouldn’t be affected. While tourism in Maldives was planned both of above issues where taken in consideration by government. As per Hall (2008) tourism planning demonstrates a mix of the five traditions, including:

1. Boosterism

2. Economic

 3. Physical/spatial

4. Community-orientated

 5. Sustainable tourism.

Maldivian tourism planning was focused on physical/spatial approach as from the initial stages of destination development the tourist growth was concentrated only in the central region.

6.2 Tourism Development

Tourism planning leads to tourism development, tourism planning is a process of tourism developments. (Bhatia,2002) According to Saner (2015) tourism development relates to planning and implementation of strategies with the objective to develop the tourism sector.

According to Wall (1997) there are four characteristics of tourist development. These are as follows:

• Attraction type; cultural, natural, recreational
• Location; water, land
• Spatial characteristics; nodal, linear, areal
• Development strategies; highly developed, developed, developing

Picture 2- Visitor Survey(2011)

Natural attractions were developed in Maldives. Above chart presents activities most enjoyed by international visitors by genders. As it can be seen five out of seven activities are based on the natural resources of island.

Miossec’s model (Sharma 2004) describes the structural evolution in time and space of tourist regions. He identifies five distinct phases regarding the changes that occur in the provision of facilities (the resorts and of transport system) and in the behaviour and attitude of tourists, of local decision-factors and the host population. (Borma,2012)

Five phases identified in the development of the Maldivian tourism industry are: (MTCA, 2008).

• First Phase (1972 to 1978)

Tourism in Maldives was first seen in 1972, during this time first resort was opened with capacity of 280-beds. Tourism was largely unplanned and took place according to individual initiative (Dowling, 2000). Over 47% of the resorts were in the central region of the country, in proximality of capital city Male and international airport.

• Second Phase (1979 to 1988)

Another 41 resorts were established in the short period of time. During this time The First Tourism Master Plan (FTMP) was issued, focusing on sustainable development of tourism, environmental protection and social and economic development of the country. Kundur (2012) By end of 1985, 55 resorts were operating (Scheyvens 2011)

• Third Phase (1989-1997)

16 additional resorts with a further bed capacity of 4920 were opened.

• Fourth Phase (1998-2001)
• Fifth Phase  (-2013

89 resorts with 17,802 bed space by 2008 (Kundur 2012 ).  Creation of Maldives Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC): a public company to help give locals a share in the industry • Modification of ‘one resort, one island’ policy to allow for city style hotel developments on inhabited islands

Kundur (2012)

6.3 Development Strategies

As the tourism industry started to grow and bed capacity as well as tourist numbers increased, the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (MoTAC) – the

organisation created to specifically oversee tourism development- created a

series of ‘Tourism Masterplans’ (TMP). First of them was issued in 1983. MoTAC (2013) state “the earliest tourism masterplans were about giving guidance to a fledging industry…blueprints for growth prepared by international experts”.

The development of tourism in the Maldives includes following:

• The First Tourism Masterplan (1983-1992)
• The Second Tourism Masterplan (1996-2005)
• The Third Tourism Masterplan (2007-2011)
• The Forth Tourism Masterplan (2013-2017) (MOTAC 2013).

On the top of introducing TMPs, in 2009 Maldives government in conjunction with United Nation Environmental Programme (UNEP), published the National Strategy for Sustainable Development. (The London School of Economics and Political Science, 2009) According to Butler (1993) Sustainable tourism development is tourism which is developed and maintained in an area (community, environment) in such a manner and at such a scale that it remains viable over an indefinite period and does not degrade or alter the environment (human and physical) in which it exists to such a degree that it prohibits the successful development and well-being of other activities and processes.

The Government has formulated several sector master plans, a National Biodiversity Strategy; a National Programme for Adaptation to Climate Change (NAPA); a National Energy Policy; and three National Environment Action Plans (NEAP). (Maldives Conservation Programme,2009) Some of the goals of National Strategy for Sustainable Development include:

• Cut CO2 emissions from light vehicles to 140g/km by 2015
• 10% biofuels in transport by 2015, then 20% by 2020
• 50% electricity from renewables by 2015
• 50% cut in GHG emissions in energy by 2015 against a 2000 baseline
• Carbon neutrality in the energy sector by 2020

(The London School of Economics and Political Science, 2009) 

Recently Maldives is taking part in in the world’s programme – 17 Goals to Transform our World. All countries take part in Sustainable Development Goals Programme by promoting prosperity while protecting the planet. “They recognize that ending poverty must go hand-in-hand with strategies that build economic growth and addresses a range of social needs including education, health, social protection, and job opportunities, while tackling climate change and environmental protection.”

The United Nations (2018)

References

• Hussain, A. (2016). MARVELOUS MALDIVES ONE ISLAND ONE RESORT – A UNIQUE MALDIVIAN CONCEPT. [Blog] Idyllic Maldives. Available at: http://idyllicmaldives.com/blog/marvelous-maldives/one-island-one-resort-a-unique-maldivian-concept/ [Accessed 1 Nov. 2018].
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• Ellis, R. (2008). Maldives. Chalfont St. Peter: Bradt.
• Neville, A. (2012). Resorts of Maldives. Sevenholidays.
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• Kundur, K. S. (2012) Development of tourism in Maldives, International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, 2, (4) 1-5. Available from: http://www.ijsrp.org/research_paper_apr2012/ijsrp-apr-2012-73.pdf [Accessed 15 Feb 2016]. Maldives Survey Report 2011. (2011). [online] Malé: Ministry of Tourism Arts & Culture. Available at: http://www.tourism.gov.mv [Accessed 3 Nov. 2018].
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