The Maldives has been awarded the “World’s Leading Dive Destination” and “Indian Ocean’s Leading Destination” at the World Travel Awards 2006.

The Minister of Tourism and Civil Aviation Dr. Mahamood Shougee accepted the Awards on behalf of the Maldivian tourism industry at this year’s World Travel Awards held at the Beaches in Turks & Caicos on 20th September.

In addition, in the Regional category Hilton Maldives Resort and Spa won the “Indian Ocean’s Leading Resort” award and Soneva Gili Resort and Spa won the “Indian Ocean’s Leading Spa Resort” award.

In the national category of World Travel Awards, Coco Palm Resort and Spa won the “Maldives’ Leading Hotel” award; Soneva Fushi Resort and Spa won the “Maldives’ Leading Resort” award and Hilton Maldives Resort and Spa won the “Maldives Leading Resort Award”.

The Maldives received these prestigious awards after receiving the highest number of votes in the respective categories among thousands of online voters from travel agencies in over 200 countries worldwide.

The World Travel Awards has become the Oscar equivalent of the global tourism industry since its establishment in 1993. This distinguished endorsement of the Maldivian tourism product by the World Travel Awards further accentuates the uniqueness of the Maldives a destination consisting of 1,190 natural coral islands, unspoiled white sandy beaches, and pristine waters of all hues of blue.

SriLankan Airlines and Maldives tourism board gave Mumbai a taste of a night at the islands..

SriLankan Airlines ties up with Maldives to promote tourism August 31, 2006: SriLankan Airlines(UL) and the Maldivian Tourism Board (MTPB) hosted a night that witnessed the cultural grandeur of the two gorgeous islands Sri Lanka and the Malidves at the J W Marriott.

Mr. Barry Brown – Head of Commercial UL and Chandana Desilva, Head of Communication UL, along with Mr. Mahmood Shaugee from MTPB were seen playing the gracious hosts to the evening.

Maldives is a world renowned holiday destination with pristine beaches and exotic natural beauty that will be more accessible through SriLankan Airlines which the largest foreign carrier flying 15 times a week.

By: Kkomal Seth & Gautam Seth

AAA Hotels & Resorts are pleased to announce that the reconstruction and renovation of the luxury Maldivian resort Medhufushi will be completed by 15th January 2007.

As before, Medhufushi will be a five-star retreat, 130 km from the capital Male (40 min by seaplane). Before closing, the resort was renowned for the luxurious yet soothing water villas, outstanding opportunities for relaxation, coupled with warm hospitality and fresh, contemporary Fusion cuisine. The revamped Medhufushi will offer the same ambience and so hopes to regain its share of the UK market.

Recreating Medhufushi as an idyllic barefoot-luxury island resort will include a re- design of the 44 Water Villas and two Honeymoon Water Villas. The 58 Beach Villas and seven two-bedroom Beach Villa Suites will also receive a new look in terms of soft furnishings. Features are to include four-poster beds, semi-open bathrooms for alfresco showers and wooden sundecks with direct beach access.

Resort facilities will include two restaurants and a bar, all with lagoon views, a luxury Maldivian-styled over-water spa as well as a watersports centre offering both motorised and non-motorised water sports. Werner Lau operates the dive centres on all AAA Hotels & Resorts and will reopen services on Medhufushi. These centres offer beginners to advanced PADI dive courses as well as CMAS advanced and other speciality courses.

Vice President of AAA Hotels & Resorts, Mr. Ali Shiyam says “The ‘new’ Medhufushi will maintain the ‘old’ charm and relaxed atmosphere and will be a tribute to tranquillity which is what our guests enjoyed in the past. We would like to thank our guests for their support over the years and the patience they have shown during the reconstruction. We look forward to welcoming them back to the Resort.”

AAA Hotels & Resorts also own and manage the four-star deluxe Filitheyo Island Resort, the only resort on Faafu Atoll. Further developments are underway with two new five star deluxe resorts of approximately 100 Villas each, located on the northern atolls of the Maldives.

http://europetravelnews.com

MAL’E, (HNS) – Sri Lanka’s largest hotel operator, John Keells Holdings have said they have picked up their fifth Maldivian resort for 12.5 million dollars.

The acquisition was carried out through their fully owned subsidiary, Travel Club (Pte) Ltd.

Manager of John Keells Maldivian resorts Channa Jayasundara told Haveeru Daily that the latest resort acquisition followed discussions between John Keells and Ellaidhoo.

“For sometime the resort was available in the market. So we talked to the resort owner and a deal was fixed,” Channa said.

He added that if any other resort owners come along with interesting proposals than more resorts could be added to the John Keells chain of resorts.

A statement from John Keells said: “This investment will further increase our exposure to the lucrative Maldivian leisure industry and is the second investment to be made in Maldives during the financial year 2006/07,”.

Located in Alifu Alifu Atoll, Ellaidhoo Tourist Resort is around 40 kilometers away from Male.

The island which is 300 meters long and 280 meters wide, presently houses 78 standard and 16 garden rooms; a restaurant, bar and a health club.

The resort also has additional capacity to house 17 water bungalows, the construction of which would be undertaken next year.

Some of the best diving sites in the Maldives are found in the vicinity of Ellaidhoo such as Fish Head, Maya Thila, Halaveli Wreck and Fesdhoo Wreck.

Besides Ellaidhoo and Validhu, JKHs Maldivian properties include Hakuraa Club, which has a mix of water and beach bungalows, Alidhoo Coral Garden Resort & Spa, 100 room facility now under construction and schedule to open for guests from January 2007 and Dhonveli Beach & Spa, which has 150 bungalows, recently taken on a 15-year sub-lease for 21.8 million dollars.

JKH is presently Sri Lanka’s largest hotel operator commanding over 1,400 rooms spread over 13 hotels, including the Maldives.

Maldives Tourism Development Corporation, MTDC, has raised Rufiyaa 35m (US$2.7m) in equity sales within the past two weeks.

The company within the period sold a total of 353,658 shares in the securities trading floor.

Until Tuesday MTDC sold a total of 302,365 shares of the company in the securities trading floor.

MTDC earlier said that people were keen to buy shares of the company. Last week MTDC received thousands of applications from potential buyers.

On Tuesday alone MTDC sold 35,399 shares of the company and received 753 applications on the same day. MTDC raised a total of Rufiyaa 3.54m from its equity sales on Tuesday.

Within a week since it started selling equities MTDC sold 40,297 shares raising a capital of Rufiyaa 4.03m.

MTDC was floated in the securities trading floor on July 2. The company will raise capital from equity sales until July 31.

MTDC was established by the governement of Maldives to develop several islands as tourist resorts in Maldives.

Mujey

Haama News