Maldives tourism officials: Islands survived tsunami, come visit

The United Nations declared the earthquake and tsunami of Dec. 26 the greatest catastrophe ... in the history of world tourism, but after talking with tourism officials, resort managers and others in the Maldives, its clear that while the U.N.s assessment is accurate by many measures, its equally accurate to say that, in parts of the Maldives at least, the tsunami was not nearly the disaster it was elsewhere in south Asia.

It would be callous to say the Maldives -- islands almost exactly halfway around the world from the U.S. -- got off easy, but the death toll there is a fraction of what it is in Indonesia and more than three-quarters of the countrys resorts are operating as usual. The Maldives experienced relatively little damage thanks to a combination of luck and careful planning. The regions underwater topography certainly helped. Because of the contour of the sea floor, the tsunami did not crest into towering waves.

Scuba diving, the countrys top tourist activity, was also largely unaffected by the passing waves. The fact that so many of the countrys resorts are open, however, is due in part to the governments one island, one resort approach to tourism.

Because each resort operates on its own island, each resort is responsible for its own infrastructure.

That means that unlike in, say, Sri Lanka, a contaminated water supply wont affect more than one resort and can be easily contained.

A perception problem

While the handful of individual resorts that suffered tsunami damage make repairs, the rest of the Maldivian tourism industry is trying to repair the perception -- fueled, ironically, by the ominous reports of well-meaning organizations like the U.N. -- that much of south Asia is now better suited for aid workers than tourists.

The image problem is especially acute in a country where tourism generates 20% to 30% of the gross domestic product.

The Maldivian Tourist Promotion Board (MTPB) puts it bluntly on its Web site [www.visitmaldives.com]: The future livelihood of many Maldivians depends heavily on its recovery and any negative impact on the tourism industry is expected to have direct effects on the welfare of the Maldivian community.

Tourist visits would be a huge contribution towards the recovery and rebuilding of the nation, said the MTPB. Thankfully, the tourists are starting to come back.

According to the MTPB, a nationwide occupancy rate of 80% will be within reach by mid-March. That would be a tremendous achievement given the amount of negative media coverage the region has received since Dec. 26.

It was not entirely expected that tourists would return to the Maldives so quickly. After all, the Maldives have never been a place for casual travelers.

Given the time and money it takes to get there, a vacation in the Maldives demands a certain level of research.

Those that have taken the time to research the Maldives over the last two months have found, as I did, that most of the countrys tourism industry is operating normally.

Its likely that many visitors also believe, as the MTPB Web site suggests, that vacationing in the country is the best thing they can do to ensure a natural disaster doesnt help create an economic crisis.

How much this relatively new form of charity -- spending money in a country in order to save it -- factors into planning a luxury vacation is debatable, but in the aftermath of the tsunami, its safe to say it plays a bigger part than normal.

Such sentiment plays right into the hands of many Maldivian resorts, which have long marketed themselves as environmentally friendly, socially responsible yet luxurious outposts in the Indian Ocean.

In short, the old message -- that these are worthy places to spend your money -- has new relevance.

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