Talking to reporters here, he said, presently, Male is connected with Bangalore and Tiruvananthapuram directly and there is a huge demand for more flights between the two nations.
He said Maldives has been attracting tourists from India, China and Europe in big numbers over the last few years. Last year, it attracted 675,000 tourists from around the world, of which India accounted for 14,000.
This year, it is expecting a growth of around 5 per cent. "As of now, we have not felt any slowdown in the arrival of tourists. But, due to the rising inflation and higher global fuel prices, it may have a marginal impact on the number of tourist arrivals," the minister said.
Shaugee launched Maldives-based hotel group, Jhotels & Resorts in Bangalore. The hotel chain has four properties in Maldives.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong-based Star Cruises is also looking to increase its share of tourists from India. The company which operates the cruise liner has urged the Indian government to reduce the tax rate on cruise liners to make it more attractive to the middle class. Parallely, the cruise liners are looking to increase their business from India by tapping into Bollywood.
