A partnership of Maldives government and Shangi-La Maldives started demolition works in Addu Atoll Villingili, an island selected for resort development, most probably instilling hopes in many workers from Addu who are currently miles away from home in other atolls.

Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation said that construction materials of the resort will reach Villingili during next week. However currently according to the ministry only the demolition works are going on. In the initial phase of the development structural works will be carried out besides demolitions of old buildings.
“Demolition works are advancing speedily. A major part of the demolition is now complete. If the works advance at current speed the deadlines will be met” speaking to Haama planning officer at ministry of tourism Mohamed Adly said.

According to Adly under the first phase 147 rooms will be built on Villingili and the civil works will start within two months. As the project segments are undertaken on subcontract basis, the works are progressing speedily according to Adly.

The government of Maldives delivered the island to an interested party to develop a resort on the island in 2003.

There are a number of criticisms directed at the government as the Villingili project has been delayed for a long period of time. Villingili development discussions first dominated the floor of the parliament in 2004 and still the debates arise in the house.
In April Ministry of Tourism signed an agreement with Maldives Tourism Development Corporation, MTDC, to build a 600-bed resort in Addu atoll Herethere.

Herethere consists of Hajara, Dhonraha and Geradhoo.

Earlier ministry of tourism said that MTDC should develop Herethere as a resort in 18 months.

When British RAF withdrew from Addu in 1976 numerous people who were made jobless invested their time and efforts in the tourism sector that was at its infancy at the time. Still it is believed that the tourism sector is dominated by people from Addu both as labor providers and investors.

By Mujey

For the 6th year running the Maldives will host another Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) world class surfing event in the stunning tropical islands – this time cosponsored by Oakley and Srilankan Airlines.

The 4 star rated ASP Australasia rated World Qualifying Series (WQS) will be held from 8-11 June 2006 at the never before used location of ‘Pasta Point’ on the south western tip of Dhonveli Beach Resort & Spa, which offers one of the world’s premier left hand point breaks located in the famous North Male Atoll. High level surfing action with ASP competitors from Australia, Hawaii, Japan, Brazil, South Africa and Europe are expected to compete for the prize money of US$ 75,000.

The Maldives is becoming an increasingly popular surf destination for enthusiastic world travelling surfers. Leading Australian World Qualifying Series surfer Adam Robertson described the upgrade announcement by saying “This is fantastic news, the Maldives is such a great event with perfect weather, amazingly warm waters and great quality waves. We all love going there to compete because we know we’re in for a real quality event.”

Mitch Thorson, Surf Marketing Manager, Oakley South Pacific says “Oakley is proud to begin an association with the ASP Australasia and Sri Lankan Airlines, and we look forward to developing a long term relationship with the Maldives and its people.”

“The Maldives represents all of the allure of living the surfing dream – tropical islands, perfect waves, incredible weather, great hospitality – we’re super fired up about this project!”

For further information about the event please contact:

ASP Australasia
Telephone: 02 6674 9888
Facsimile: 02 6674 9887
Email: brodiec@surfingaustralia.com

Rania, a luxurious 86-foot GulfCraft Majesty speed yacht from the Maldives with its own private island, has appointed Dubai-based Sharaf Travel as its first GCC agent.

Under the agreement, Sharaf Travel will package and sell ‘the rania experience’ to the region’s top end market.

“It’s estimated that there are over 200,000 multi-millionaires in the Middle East and Sharaf Travel will help us target these high net-worth individuals,” said Vijai Singh, General Manager, Rania & Water Garden Island Spa.

Originally acquired from a Dubai Sheikh and named after the word ‘rani’, which means queen in the Dhivehi language of the Maldives and Queen Rania of Jordan, this elite yacht is the only one of its kind in the Indian Ocean vacation paradise.

The yacht has two double and two twin rooms with en-suite bathrooms, indoor and outdoor lounge and dining areas, barbeque, Jacuzzi, air-conditioning and a full entertainment system with satellite TV and DVD.

Rania cruises the waters of the Indian Ocean, docking at Water Garden Island Spa, its own private island in the Maldives 122 kilometres south of the capital Male.

“This product is perfect for the region’s high net-worth individuals as this is the only experience of its kind in the Maldives to limit bookings for exclusive use,” said Salah Sharaf, Chairman, Sharaf Travel.

“Each custom-tailored package will provide guests exclusive use of the yacht and island, up to three and a half hours of sailing per day, all dining, drinks, unlimited spa treatments, unlimited diving and instruction, snorkelling and dive equipment, water sports and boat fuel. The package will also include a full yacht crew and island staff, a private chef, spa therapist, PADI dive instructor and butler.”

Designed with ultimate luxury in mind, the island includes the lavish Maldivian style air-conditioned Rania Suite, overlooking the pool area with king size beds, open air-bathrooms and a personal butler on hand.

“During their stay at Water Garden Island Spa, guests can enjoy exclusive use of the pool, spa, entertainment pavilion and beach. Here, every request is facilitated by a personal butler, who is always at hand,” explained Singh.

“We’ve already had tremendous success in Europe and America and with the help of local tour operators, we will now be intensifying our efforts to win Middle East tourists.”

BANDOS ISLAND, The government of the Maldives has called on the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) for assistance in gaining access to this year’s FIFA World Cup for broadcast on TV Maldives, the only free-to-air network in the small island nation.

The Maldives’ Minister of Information and Arts, Mohamed Nasheed, made the appeal to the ABU during the opening ceremony of the organization’s 80th Administrative Council. According to Nasheed, the local satellite platform does have rights to all 64 games, making the World Cup available to only about 25,000 people out of the country’s 300,000 population.

TV Maldives is reportedly being asked by the unnamed pay-TV platform to pay more than US$600,000 for access to a limited number of games. Nasheed referred to the asking price as “a tsunami amount of money.”

“Charging a small public broadcasting organization such as ours whose only interest is to show its nationals their life-blood game is like taking away the means of our life and charging an exorbitant amount to return those means,” he said. “We cannot be victimized by this and we do not want to accept such manipulative deals.”

He continued, “US$600,000 is equivalent to nearly 7.7 million rufiyaa. Divide that by 300,000 people, it comes to 25.7 rufiyaa per person. This is an enormous amount. And if we understand correctly, there are richer and bigger countries that would pay only US$40,000 to watch all the 64 games.”

The Secretary-General of the ABU, David Astley, added that the asking price was a 3,000-percent increase on what the broadcaster paid for the same rights in 2002. “It is outrageous that the rights holder should be asking for an increase of this magnitude at a time that this small island nation is recovering from the devastation of the tsunami. The amount being asked is totally out of proportion to what other countries of this size are being asked to pay.”

The Maldives’ government is said to be drafting legislation that would require events like the World Cup to be made available to free-to-air television at a reasonable cost. “This could have been avoided if the pay-TV provider had been willing to negotiate a fair price with the free-to-air broadcaster,” Astley said. “I believe it is a case of the pay-TV operator simply not being aware of the market conditions in the Maldives.”

The ABU’s head of sport, John Barton, will hold discussions with pay-TV operator concerned.