MALDIVES SAYS 140 NEW RESORT ISLANDS IN DEVELOPMENT
馬爾代夫在開發中獲得140個新的度假村
A total of 132 tourism projects involving 140 islands are being carried out across the Maldives, new government has announced.
Newly appointed tourism minister Ali Waheed told journalists on Friday that development of 54 out of the 140 islands had come to a halt due to several reasons. However, construction of resorts on 93 of the islands are underway, he noted.
Citing statistics from the ministry’s planning department, the minister said another 13 islands, four lagoons and two land plots had been put up for bids but are yet to be leased. Additional three islands had been approved by the President’s Office for tourism development but are pending gazette announcement, he added.
According to the minister, 144 resorts, 12 hotels, 508 guesthouses and 148 liveaboard vessels have been registered. The number of registered travel agencies and dive schools stand at 308 and 272 respectively.
新政府宣布，馬爾代夫共有132個旅遊項目，涉及140個島嶼。
新任命的旅遊部長阿里·瓦希德週五告訴記者，由於幾個原因，140個島嶼中的54個島嶼的發展已經停止。然而，他說，在93個島嶼上建造度假村正在進行中。
該部長援引該部規劃部門的統計數據稱，已經提出另外13個島嶼，4個潟湖和2個地塊，但尚未出租。他補充說，其他三個島嶼已獲總統辦公室批准用於旅遊業發展，但正在等待公告。
據部長介紹，已登記144家度假村，12家酒店，508家賓館和148艘船宿船。註冊旅行社和潛水學校的數量分別為308和272。
Newly appointed tourism minister Ali Waheed. PHOTO/ PRESIDENT’S OFFICE
新任命的旅遊部長阿里·瓦希德。 照片/總統辦公室
The new government had pledged to ramp up tourism promotion with new initiatives and more funding.
Authorities have come under fire from private organisations representing industry stakeholders such as the Maldives Association of Travel Agents and Tour Operators (MATATO) over the lack of effort and budget to promote the Maldives as a destination.
These concerns come as the world-famous holiday destination struggles to match an increased bed capacity.
Over the past few years, dozens of uninhabited islands have been leased to local and foreign resort developers. Several international brands have entered into the market, increasing the number of resorts in operation to more than 130. That number is set to increase as another 20 resorts are expected to open over the next two years.
Singapore’s Park Hotel Group has opened its first resort in the Maldives, while major international hotel chains such as AccorHotels have entered the Maldives with three openings, including Mercure Maldives Kooddoo Resort, Fairmont Maldives Sirru Fen Fushi and Mӧvenpick Resort Kuredhivaru Maldives as well as two in the pipeline. Brands like Hard Rock International, Capella Hotel Group, Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group, Emaar Hospitality Group, Baglioni Hotels, Emerald Collection and Meliá Hotels International have announced their entry to the Maldives as well.
Existing international players are also upping their presence, with Marriott International launching Westin and JW Marriott in Maldives, Hilton Worldwide to re-introduce its top-end luxury brand Waldorf Astoria, Aitken Spence to introduce its Heritance brand, Minor Hotel Group to introduce its AVANI brand, Onyx Hospitality Group to introduce its OZO brand with its second property in the island nation, and LUX* Hotels and Resorts to open its second resort in the Maldives. Centara Hotels and Resorts has also signed a management agreement for its third resort in the tropical destination, while The Residence by Cenizaro has announced the launch of its second Maldivian property.
Leading local hotel groups, including Atmosphere Hotels and Resorts, Sun Siyam Resorts, and Crown and Champa Resorts, are also on an expansion drive.
Meanwhile, the first integrated tourism developments in the Maldives — Emboodhoo Lagoon project and Rah Falhu Huraa lagoon project — are underway.
Along with the new resort openings come the challenge of increasing demand from budget travellers who choose guesthouses over luxury resorts that the Maldives is known for. The guesthouse sector has rapidly expanded with over 500 guesthouses in operation today.
The previous government had announced new steps to maintain a structured growth in tourism, including a slowdown in leasing islands for resort development and increased marketing efforts in key markets such as China and the Middle East in order to reach an ambitious target of a record 1.5 million tourist arrivals this year.
Maldives had in September welcomed the one millionth visitor of 2018.
According to the latest figures, total arrivals for the past 10 months of the year increased by 7.3 percent to reach 1,207,852 compared to the 1,125,995 in the same period of last year.
新政府承諾通過新的舉措和更多的資金來促進旅遊業的推廣。
由於缺乏努力和預算來推動馬爾代夫作為目的地，代表行業利益相關者的私營組織，如馬爾代夫旅行社協會和旅行社（MATATO），當局受到了抨擊。
世界著名的度假勝地正在努力與增加的床位相匹配。
在過去的幾年裡，已經有數十個無人居住的島嶼被租給了當地和外國的度假村開發商。幾個國際品牌已進入市場，運營中的度假村數量增加到130多個。隨著另外20個度假村預計將在未來兩年內開放，這一數字將會增加。
新加坡的Park Hotel Group在馬爾代夫開設了第一家度假村，而AccorHotels等主要國際連鎖酒店已經進入馬爾代夫，開業三處，包括馬爾代夫庫德多美居度假酒店，馬爾代夫費爾蒙酒店Sirru Fen Fushi和M MaldvenpickResort Kuredhivaru Maldives以及兩家酒店。管道。 Hard Rock International，Capella Hotel Group，Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group，Emaar Hospitality Group，Baglioni Hotels，Emerald Collection和MeliáHotelsInternational等品牌也宣布進入馬爾代夫。
現有的國際參與者也紛紛加入其中，萬豪國際集團在馬爾代夫推出威斯汀和JW萬豪酒店，希爾頓全球重新推出其頂級奢侈品牌Waldorf Astoria，Aitken Spence，介紹其Heritance品牌，Minor Hotel Group推出其AVANI品牌，Onyx Hospitality Group將介紹其OZO品牌及其在該島國的第二家酒店，以及LUX * Hotels and Resorts在馬爾代夫開設其第二家度假村。 Centara Hotels and Resorts還簽署了其在熱帶目的地的第三個度假村的管理協議，而The Residence by Cenizaro宣布推出其第二個馬爾代夫物業。
領先的當地酒店集團，包括Atmosphere Hotels and Resorts，Sun Siyam Resorts，Crown和Champa Resorts，也在擴張。
與此同時，馬爾代夫首個綜合旅遊開發項目–Emboodhoo Lagoon項目和Rah Falhu Huraa潟湖項目正在進行中。
隨著新的度假村開放帶來的挑戰是增加對馬爾代夫眾所周知的豪華度假村選擇賓館的預算旅客的需求。賓館部門迅速擴張，目前有超過500家賓館在運營。
此前政府已宣布採取新步驟保持旅遊業的結構性增長，包括租賃島嶼度假村開發放緩以及中國和中東等主要市場的營銷活動增加，以實現創紀錄的150萬人口目標今年遊客到訪。
馬爾代夫在9月迎來了2018年第100萬名遊客。
根據最新數據，今年過去10個月的總入境人數增加了7.3％，達到1,207,852人，而去年同期為1,125,995人。
FROM:http://maldives.net.mv/28667/maldives-says-140-new-resort-islands-in-development/
