Tourist flow has decreased by 26% due to the Middle East crisis, Abdulla Muththalib, Minister of Infrastructure, Housing and Urban Development of the Maldives, said during the special session titled “Inclusive Urban Resilience, Blue Economy and Sustainable Tourism in Small Island Developing States” held within the framework of WUF13, APA-Economics reports.
The minister stated that the development of guesthouse tourism in the Maldives creates competition with land intended for residential purposes. According to him, families sell their land or use it for commercial purposes in order to generate income from tourism and move to other islands.
Abdulla Muththalib noted that tourism is the only type of economic activity for many islands, and therefore it is difficult to restrict the use of residential land for this purpose.
The minister emphasized that the country’s high dependence on tourism makes the Maldives vulnerable to external shocks: “Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the crisis in the Middle East, tourist flow decreased by 26% year-on-year.”
According to him, the main goal is to create safe, climate-resilient and economically sustainable islands.
