December 24, 2007 at 5:08 am
· Filed under General News
A Blue Panorama flight made history as it became the first international flight to land at Gan Airport in Addu - the southernmost atoll of the Maldives. Gan Airport has long been a busy regional airport in the country, but this is the first time it has played host to an international flight.
Seventy one tourists travelling from Milan to Addu’s newly opened resort island of Herathera received a heart-warming welcome from the locals at Gan International Airport. The landing of this Blue Panorama flight in Addu marks the inauguration of Gan airport as the country’s second international airport. Thus far Malé International Airport at Hulhule Island has been the only international airport in the country.
December 24, 2007 at 4:32 am
· Filed under Maldives Resorts
Veligandu Island Resort reopened on December 23, 2007. This resort named after its spectacular, long strip of sandy beach was closed for renovation in May this year. According the General Manager Mr Fathulla Ibrahim the 146 bed resort is now reopen with a number of new facilities and services that were not available before.
The arrival of 84 tourists in the afternoon marked the opening of the refurbished Veligandu Island Resort.
Veligandu is situated in Rasdhoo Atoll in North Ari Atoll, about 51 km from Male International Airport.
Veligandu Island Resort Photos
Veligandu Island Resort
North Ari Atoll
Telephone: (960) 666 0519
Facsimilie: (960) 666 0648
Email: reservations@veliganduisland.com
Website: www.veliganduisland.com
December 13, 2007 at 1:26 pm
· Filed under Maldives Awards
Maldives a longtime favorite destination for honeymooners around the world is named ‘World’s Most Romantic Destination’ at the 2007 World Travel Awards 14th Annual Gala Ceremony held on the islands of Turks & Caicos, Caribbean, on December 12, 2007.
In addition Maldives won several awards in the Indian Ocean’s category:
The global winners of the World Travel Awards for 2007 were announced at a star-studded ceremony on the island of Providenciales, from votes cast by 167,000 tourism professionals and agents who were asked to vote. Next year’s voting register is likely to be even greater, due to the unprecedented levels of interest and expectation.
Hailed as the ‘Oscars of the travel industry’, World Travel Awards have been attracting media attention from all corners of the globe.
December 9, 2007 at 5:17 pm
· Filed under Maldives Awards, Destination Maldives, General News
The Maldives has been nominated in five categories in the 14th Annual World Travel Awards to be held in the Turks and Caicos Islands on the 12th December 2007. The five categories that Maldives got nominated are World’s Leading Destination, World’s Leading Dive Destination, World’s Leading Honeymoon Destination, World’s Leading Romantic Destination and World’s Leading Travel Television Commercial. In addition Maldives Tourism Promotion Board has been nominated in the World’s Leading Tourist and Convention Bureau category.
Furthermore, some of the Maldives tourism industry players have been nominated in important categories. In this regard Inner Maldives has been nominated in the World’s Leading Travel Agency category, Baros Maldives got nominated in World’s Leading Villa and World’s Leading Beach Resort category, Hilton Maldives has been nominated in World’s Leading Resort category and Huvafenfushi has been nominated in World’s Leading Spa Resort category.
Hailed by the Wall Street Journal as the “Travel industry’s equivalent to the Oscars”, the World Travel Awards are the most comprehensive and most prestigious awards program in the global travel industry. The World Travel Awards were established in 1993 to acknowledge and celebrate excellence in the world’s travel and tourism industry. With thousands of votes cast by travel professionals from 167,000 travel agencies in over 160 countries across the globe, winning a World Travel Award has become one of the highest accolades a travel product can achieve.
The 2007 World Travel Awards world winners will be announced and presented at the gala ceremony which will take place in the islands of Turks & Caicos on the 12th December 2007. Candidates nomination for world winners categories are based on the results from the four regional ceremonies which took place in Abu Dhabi, New York, NewcastleGateshead and Bangalore in 2007.
MTPB won the Indian Oceans Leading Tourist and Visitor Bureau Award in Bangalore ceremony. Maldives also won the Indian Ocean’s Leading Destinations Award and Indian Ocean’s Leading Dive Destination Award in the same ceremony. During this ceremony Maldives Tourism industry won awards in many categories.
December 2, 2007 at 8:59 pm
· Filed under Events
Maldives Tourism Promotion Board together with the embassy of Maldives in Japan organized road shows in three major cities in Japan. The road shows were held in Nagoya, on 27th November, in Osaka on 28th November and in Tokyo on 29th November 2007. The road shows were attended by more than 200 Japanese travel trade, media and representatives from Maldives tourism industry. The road show in Tokyo was done in association with Sri Lankan Airlines. The Executive Director of MTPB Dr. Abdulla Mausoom headed the Maldives delegation.
The road shows in Japan were held at the following hotels:
1. Nagoya – The Grand Court Hotel Nagoya
2. Osaka – The Ritz Carlton Hotel
3. Tokyo – The Hilton Tokyo Hotel
The Nagoya road show was attended by 50 participants, the Osaka road show was attended by 70 and the Tokyo road show was attended by 90 participants. The purpose of the road shows was to disseminate information on the developments of Maldives tourism industry to the Japanese travel, trade and media. It also enabled the Japanese tour operators and travel agents to gather specific information on the wonderful tourism product that Maldives has to offer. The winner o lucky draw held during Tokyo road show received a holiday for two in Maldives. It holiday was sponsored by Platinum Capital Holdings Vilamendhoo Island Resort and air ticket was sponsored by Sri Lankan Airlines.
Japanese is the leading destination from Asia region to the Maldives. Maldives welcomed 34,057 Japanese visitors by the end of October 2007. Last year 39,528… number of Japanese visitors visited Maldives from Japan.
