By: Sarah
Thank you Siraj! Let's go for coffee. By: Sarah
Thank you for reading my post and taking the time to comment. I certainly agree with all your points, and also feel very lucky to call Maldives my home. For me, exploring local islands and making friends with Maldivian's and just enjoying my time working here has been a wonderful experience (that's why I love blogging about my trips!)
Yes we must let local tourism in Maldives grow at it's own pace. I just hope that if any tourists find my blog they may find it useful! Afterall, research is key when travelling abroad. By: Ruth Franklin
Sarah, you may want to consider when the article you refer to that includes a comment from myself was written and also how comments get misconstrued in the media. However as a business owner in a foreign country, there are laws and regulations that have to be followed, regardless of your own beliefs, thoughts and opinions. I am certainly not naive to think that tourists visiting the Maldives are uncultured, most of those travelling to local islands do so because they want to experience the real Maldives and experience its culture. You would however, be surprised how many tourists arrive in the Maldives not having done research. Anticipating Hulhumale to be a resort island. Expecting to be able to walk down the street from one resort to another for dinner. 3 years ago for the country to open up local islands was a big step forward and local tourism has developed steadily since then and continues to do so and we have seen positive impact in the main on local communities and their economy. You do however need to put local tourism into perspective, it is still very much in its infancy and can not be compared to what is offered elsewhere in the world at this market level. It is only 40 years since tourism first came to the Maldives and who would have anticipated back in the 70s how big the industry would become. Over time local island tourism will continue to develop at the pace which the Maldives is accustomed to and with it will come some of the changes you mention. I am proud to call the Maldves my home and I am proud that Secret Paradise supports local island tourism in a responsible and sustainable way. By: siraaj
Keep it up writing sarah..your blog are very intereating to read.