Three tourism ministers to debate Islands destination marketing
Caribbean and Indian Ocean case studies to be presented at AHIC
(Dubai, April 2006): How to brand an island to appeal to the global tourist, and the secrets of attracting international capital are among the topics covered by a special session on Emerging Island Destinations at the Arab Hotel Investment Conference (AHIC), being held in Dubai between April 29 and May 1.
Three tourism ministers – the Hon Samia Hassan from Zanzibar, the Hon Noel Lynch from Barbados and Dr Mahmood Shaugee from the Maldives – will take to the stage to debate issues of island marketing. Robert Riley, the new CEO of Armani Hotels & Resorts, will moderate the panel discussion, and they will be joined by Hamza Mustafa, general manager of Nakheel’s Dubai island development, The World.
The Maldives will be highlighted as a case study, differentiating between the mass market and high-end approach to development. The Hon Michael Misick, chief minister from the Turks and Caicos Islands, will speak on the challenges of establishing a name and a brand within the umbrella branding of the Caribbean.
According to organiser Jonathan Worsley, the interesting issue to be raised on this session will be why investors should invest in The Maldives, Barbados, Turks & Caicos or The World. There will be lessons for regional destinations to be learnt, particularly in distinguishing brands that are essentially offering a similar product.
He said: “To many travellers from overseas, the Middle East is the big brand, the Gulf might be a product but individual destinations such as Bahrain, Qatar, Ras Al Khaimah, Muscat or Salalah need to be clearly defined to woo and capture the right audience.”
The Arabian Hotel Investment Conference will run from April 29 – May 1, 2006 at Dubai’s Madinat Jumeirah conference centre. The conference is organised by Jonathan Worsley, Managing Director of International Hospitality Services and MEED Conferences. Details of AHIC can be found on www.arabianconference.com.
Platinum sponsors at the 2006 event are: GuestInvest; Kingdom Hotel Investments; Nakheel Hotels & Resorts and Rezidor SAS Hospitality.
Gold sponsors are: Accor; ALDhiyafa Holdings Company; Arabian Travel Market; Armani Hotels & Resorts; Cendant Vacation Network Group; Deloitte; Emirates; Euro RSCG Furness; Fairmont Hotels & Resorts; Government of Tanzania; Group 32 Snow Dome; Gulf Air; Hamilton Hotel Partners; Hilton International; HVS International; IFA Hotels & Resorts; Integra TV; InterContinental Hotels & Resorts; Interval International; Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels; Jumeirah; Kempinski; Marriott International; Morgan Stanley; Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts; OBM International; Port Ghalib Egypt; Rotana Hotels; RSP Group; Shaza Hotels; Sidley Austin; Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide; TRI Hospitality Consulting Middle East, Turks & Caicos and UG Recker.
Media sponsors are: AME Info, Breaking Travel News, CNBC Arabia, Global Hospitality Resources, Hotelier Middle East; HOTELS, Sleeper and TTN.
Supporters are: Dubai Convention Bureau, Emirates Academy of Hospitality; International Hotel & Restaurant Association; International Business Leaders Forum, Villeroy & Boch; the World Travel & Tourism Council and WOW Travels.
The Arabian Hotel Investment Conference will run from April 29 – May 1, 2006 on the eve of Arabian Travel Market. The conference is organised by Jonathan Worsley, Managing Director of International Hospitality Services and MEED, the Middle East business information group. Details of AHIC can be found on www.arabianconference.com.
(ends)
Media information:
Kirstie Hepburn
Euro RSCG Furness for Arabian Hotel Investment Conference
Tel: 971-4 390 3030, fax: +971 4 3918486
e-mail kirstie.hepburn@eurorscgfurness.com
Maldives Guide
Customs
Customs
The import of firearms, liquor, drugs and pornography are prohibited. An official license is required for import of alcohol. Alcohol is available in all the resorts and not sold / available in Male’ or any other inhabited island. Dogs, Pigs, and pork products are prohibited. Special permission should be sought to bring the personal pets (dogs not allowed).
Sever penalties exist for those who violate Maldives Customs Law
Maldives Guide
Transport from the Airport
Ferry Service to the Capital
A ferry service is available from the airport island to the capital around the clock. A special Dhoni ferry leaves from the airport jetty to the capital every 15 minutes which changes to one every 30 minutes after midnight.
Set charge per person for the ferry service is USD 1/- during normal operating hours and a charge of USD 2/- per person at midnight.
Since the airport island is geographically separate from the capital the only means of transport to the capital is by sea.
If required a Dhoni can be chartered by for transfer to the capital at set rates. Further details cab be attained from the ferry terminal at the jetty of the airport.
Air Transport
Maldivian Air Taxi® and Trans Maldivian Airways® operate special air transfer trips to most of the resorts. This mode of transport is best arranged by your agents or the resort operative. Normally resort operators have arrangements for chartered flights to their resort with either of these parties.
Please consult your Travel Agent or the resort operative regarding transfer arrangements.
Internal transfers in the Maldives are considered expensive especially when the services are bought separately. This is particularly true with transfers to resort islands.
It is highly advisable to have transfers paid and arranged in advance.
Maldives Guide
Airport information Counter
Maldives Tourism Promotion Board has an information counter setup at the airport for ease of the tourists visiting the Maldives. Especially those who are Free travelers or FITs. Any information including Maldives, hotel rates will be provided by the MTPB staff at the counter. – Airport Floor Plan
If a traveller visits without proper hotel bookings he/she may experience little difficulty while going through to the immigration process. Immigration staff would ask for the hotel name where the guests will be staying in. is this information is not provided in the arrival card.
It is highly recommended to have prior hotel booking before visiting to the Maldives.
Maldives Guide
Duty Free
Duty free shopping is only available in the departure terminal of the Male’ international airport. The lounge has specialized shops for electrical goods, watches, cameras, fashion, liquor, jewelry, tobacco and more.
Maldives Guide
Port Health
Maldives being free from certain diseases that are of public health concern as well as of international importance, implementing continuous vigilance activities at Ports of entry at sea and Air, to ensure that appropriate surveillance activities are carried out effectively in safe guarding against any threat of introducing diseases are of health importance.Intensified surveillance for incoming passengers and continuous inspection of food items, and animals that were imported into the country is being carried out at all ports of the country.
In preparation for the certification of the Malaria Free Maldives, all incoming passengers from malaria-infected countries are screened.
For Certification of Sanitary Port an organized Medical Service, adequate staff and equipment provides in and out passengers care and attend Medical emergencies at port.
Disinfections is compulsory for Cargo aircraft and passenger aircrafts coming from Yellow Fever and Malaria endemic areas.
Maldives Guide
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Immigration
ARRIVAL
Free 30 days Visa upon arrival for all visitors
Visitors entering the Republic of Maldives should fulfill the following requirement for the grant of an entry permit into the country.
Possession of a valid international travel document issued by the Government of a Sovereign State.
Possession of a valid return air ticket to a destination where the passenger has permission to enter, together with necessary visas for the onward journey to the next destination.
Possession of minimum of US$30.00 per person per day or confirmed hotel reservation for the intended period of stay in the Maldives. Following are exempted from this requirement.
- Diplomats
- UN Personnel
- Approved persons for employment
- Technical and other experts attached to the Government
- Those who have confirm bookings in registered tourist resort/hotels etc.
- Those sponsored by Maldivians
No prior visa is required to enter the Republic of Maldives. Entry permit will be granted to visitors on arrival at designated ports of entry, based on the immigration requirements.
An entry permit does not allow a visitor to take up employment, set up any business or exercise any profession whether paid or unpaid except with the consent and in conformity with the pertinent laws and regulations of the Maldives. However, a visitor or foreign delegation visiting the Maldives to conclude business agreements, contracts or to negotiate business transactions with their counterparts do not require work permits if the stay does not exceed the duration granted on arrival.
An expatriate must obtain a work permit from the Ministry of Human Resources Employment and Labour before arrival in Maldives to engage in employment.
Visitors who stay beyond the period for which they have been approved may be deported.
The Government of Maldives refuses admission and transit to holder of Merchant Seaman books.
Disembarkation and Embarkation card shall be filled by every passenger and submitted to the Immigration Officer on entry.
Transit
Transit passengers must leave Maldives within 24 hours of arrival. If a transit passenger fails to leave within 24 hours the passenger shall revise his permit to stay.
Crew
Crew member on scheduled services shall retain their passport in possession when disembarking and embarking, remains at the airport where the aircraft has stopped or within the confines of the island adjacent there to, departing on the same aircraft or next regular scheduled flight out of Maldives.
Passport or valid international travel document is acceptable for temporary admission in to the Maldives.
Departure
All persons leaving the Republic of Maldives shall possess a valid passport or travel document. All passengers shall complete and submit an embarkation card with their passport to the Immigration Officer for inspection
www.maldivesonlineguide.com
Free 30 days Visa upon arrival for all visitors
No prior visa is required to enter the Republic of Maldives. Entry permit will be granted to visitors on arrival at designated ports of entry, based on the immigration requirements.
Free Visa upon entry is applicable to all nationalities. A further extension to the visa is also possible given that proper requirements are met.
Maldives Guide
Indian gifts naval ship to the Maldives
17 April 2006
www.haveeru.com.mv
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MALE, April 17 (HNS) – The government of India has gifted its naval ship INS Tillanchang to the government of Maldives.
The official ceremony to hand over the craft was held Sunday morning at the Maldives Ports Authority pier. The craft was handed over to the National Security Service Coast Guard by Indian Defence Minister, Pranab Mukherjee.
The vessel was accepted on behalf of the government of Maldives by the Minister of Defence and National Security, Ismail Shafeeu.
The ship's new commissioning plaque was unveiled by the President. The ship was reincarnated under the Maldives flag. It was renamed, 'Huravee'.
Speaking during the ceremony, the Defence Minister of India, Pranab Mukherjee said that he was pleased to be visiting the Maldives. He noted that it was a privilege for him to be handing over INS Tillanchang to the NSS. Highlighting that the hand over ceremony was a landmark event in the bilateral relations between Maldives and India, the Indian Defence Minister stressed that the two countries had strong ties of culture and friendship that went back many centuries. Further, he said that the ties of friendship between the two Indian Ocean neighbours had matured with time, and that relations were today based on mutual respect, common interests and shared values.
In his speech at the ceremony, the Minister of Defence and National Security, Ismail Shafeeu thanked India for the considerable assistance that it had provided to the Maldives.
He elaborated that the Maldives had received Indian assistance in many social, cultural and economic areas, as well as in the maintenance of peace and security in the country. He added that the NSS had itself been the beneficiary of much assistance over the decades, particularly in human resource development.
Defence Minister Shafeeu recalled that 'Operation Cactus' carried out by the Indian defence forces following the terrorist attack on 3 November 1988 was the single most remarkable service rendered to the Maldivian people at a time of great need, but that it was one of many such services. He also said that the Indian government's decision to endorse such a vessel to the Maldives was an indication of the understanding that prevailed between the Maldives and India, and that it would serve as a symbol of the enduring friendship between both countries.
In his speech, the Defence Attache' of India, Captain Sooraj Berry expressed his confidence that the naval vessel would contribute to safeguarding the maritime interests and upholding the sovereignty of the Maldives.
Maldives Guide
Maldivians want genuine democracy: Ibrahim Hussain Zaki
R.K. Radhakrishnan
Ibrahim Hussain Zaki — Photo: S. Thanthoni
CHENNAI : India should play a more active role in ensuring that true democracy is ushered in Maldives, said Ibrahim Hussain Zaki, vice president, Maldivian Democratic Party. Rather than strengthening the hands of a `dictator', India had a duty to promote democracy, he added.
"We are very disappointed and sad that today at this critical time of change in the Maldives, the Indian Government has given him [the President] a defence package… Much of this equipment is meant for the police. This will be used against us," he said, and added that the boat given by India was meant to patrol the seas looking for pirates and illegal trawling. "But he [the President] sent it to the Southern Atoll to attack people there. Several people were taken on board, brought to Male and put in jail," he told The Hindu on Tuesday.
He said most people in his country appreciated the socio-economic assistance extended by India. The Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital and the Vocational Training Centre were fine examples. "We would like to strengthen our forces also. But not [when the country is] in the hands of a dictator," he said.
Mr. Zaki, who was a Minister in the Maumoon Abdul Gayoom Cabinet for about 10 years, said he joined the Cabinet so that he could save the country by working from within the system. "I thought I could really influence him to bring change from within," he said.
According to him, the day a young jailed activist was murdered — September 20, 2005 — was a turning point in the Maldivian political history. "That exposed the human rights violations in the country [to people abroad]," he said. The reaction of Maldivians was spontaneous: many came out on to the streets in protest and demanded justice.
"That was the start. Until then, Maldives was ruled with an iron fist," he said. As much as 78 per cent of the Maldivian population were below 35 and 99 per cent of the total population were literate. According to him they wanted genuine democracy and not what the President practised now.
The President was playing a game with India and China, Mr. Zaki alleged. President Gayoom was "much more comfortable with the Chinese" and warming up to China "in order to replace India."
