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Medhufushi pool and bar.
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Maldives has always had a fascination for travellers. Now companies such as AAA Resorts, which has recently appointed Blue Square Consultants as its India rep, are tailoring themselves for Indian guests.

Even if yours’ are the sort of travellers who need to have a checklist of places to see and things to do, Maldives will calm them down. The only urban stretch in the island nation with 1192 islets, of which 200 are inhabited, is Male.

A tourist can cover the entire capital city on foot in about an hour or two, taking in the Presidential Palace, old architecture, fruit and fish markets and a museum.

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The one thing that a traveller cannot do is put down the camera – now catching a view of the islands from the seaplane, now photographing baby sharks swimming in turquoise seas, waiting to see other colourful fish or capturing a particularly picturesque sunset framed within the prow of a traditional boat. Be careful in Maldives, you will have to sleep with the camera by your pillow.

Waiting for the seaplane connection to Medhufushi and then Zitahli, TGI caught up with AAA’s director Ali Shiyam who is also the economic advisor to the president of Maldives; and sales and marketing manager, Rizma Waleed about their plans for their Indian guests.

Overview
“Maldives has 21,000 beds total with about 30 more resorts in the pipeline, which will add 15,000 to 20,000 more rooms. We have three more resorts in the pipeline taking our total to 700 rooms by 2012. We have worked with reps in various countries for about 10 years and it has worked really well.

Source markets
Europe is our primary source market. Russia is growing fast. We started focusing on China two years back and it is growing very fast. Korea is coming up. Our number one market is Germany, then come UK, France, China and Russia. In Asia, China and Japan are good. We are starting to receive Australians and Malaysians as well.

Though guests can sometimes book directly, tour operators sell at a cheaper rate. They’re selling quite well so we don’t need to undercut their rates.

Why should Indians travel to the Maldives?
The Indian market is interested in the Maldives. They feel like they’re home, but they also come to see something different. Indians travel to Mauritius and Seychelles.

We have so much more to offer. So far, Indian guests to Maldives tend to travel to Indian brands. We have a great luxury product, reasonably priced so we are confident that the Indian guests will like it. Indian GDP growth is explosive and they have a huge outbound market. Most of our guests are experienced travellers who know what to expect from a four or five-star resort.

Our Indian clients are well-travelled. This is not their first time travel destination. Their first request is for Indian food and Indian chefs. The second request is for Indian television channels.

So far, we have noticed that Indians like to stay near the airport so seaplane transfers are not necessary. But our properties have an edge because they have everything that Indians may be looking for – good chefs, entertainment and excursions.

We are catering to an international clientele so we already have a huge buffet. We are hiring Indian chefs for all our resorts. We’ve signed a contract with Blue Square Consultants in India in June. By next year we can start welcoming our Indian clients. South India is one source, Bollywood is another segment. We’re looking at honeymoon travellers and FITs.