To the Maldives with a discount – Newspaper Kommersant No. 5 (7450) dated 01/13/2023

The term “new normal” and phrases about how the world will never be the same during the pandemic, military operations in Ukraine and the sanctions confrontation have become clichés. But sometimes they describe the situation quite accurately, for example, in the tourism market, where the Maldives has evolved from an exclusive to a mass destination over the past three years. According to local authorities, 202,000 Russian tourists came to the country in 2022. This figure is 2.42 times higher than the pre-crisis 2019. The absolute value does not reach Turkey, the United Arab Emirates or Egypt, but, for example, more than doubles the number of tourist arrivals of Russians to Sri Lanka at the end of last year (93 thousand).

The national statistics also reflect the demand for the Maldives: the country entered the top ten most popular outbound tourist destinations in the first three quarters of last year, according to the FSB border service. The secret of popularity is the prompt removal of pandemic restrictions and the presence of a large volume of transportation. These are both direct flights of Aeroflot and Azur Air, as well as connecting flights of Middle Eastern low-cost airlines. As a result, the minimum prices for tours to the Maldives with a departure at the end of January now start from 150 thousand rubles. for two in a week. The minimum value for Thailand is not much lower, about 130 thousand rubles.

But it is the competition with the latter, as well as with other mass Asian destinations after their opening, that is now leading to a decrease in demand for the Maldives. So, according to Sletat.ru estimates, in October the number of arrivals and bookings decreased by 30% at once. Analysts attribute the dynamics to the redistribution of demand in favor of other countries. Indirectly, the decrease in demand for the Maldives is also indicated by the data of the Association of Tour Operators of Russia, which announced in mid-December that there were places in the country for the New Year holidays. It was hard to imagine this a year ago. Maldivian hoteliers have already felt the complexity of the situation: tour operators are talking about their proposals for the sale of accommodation with a discount of up to 40%.

But Asian destinations have only just begun to return to the mass Russian market. Next in line is the return of Chinese Hainan, which was in relatively high demand for organized tourists before the pandemic. The growth of competition in itself implies an increase in loyalty and, consequently, the appearance of noticeable discounts. So, the Maldives from the once luxury location “for the elite” may well gradually become the direction of “hot tours”. Of course, nothing prevents the country’s hoteliers from continuing to host high-budget guests. But whether they will be attracted to such an image of the direction is still a big question.