Economic Impact of Tourism
In the Maldives a lot of the locals rely on the tourism in order to make their money, but they also rely on the exporting of their goods they make and sell. A lot of Maldivians rely on their goods to sell and as well also rely on fishing to bring in money, like said in a previous paragraph fishing is about 25 USD which is equivalent to 385.75 Maldivian Rufiyaa.
The COVID-19 pandemic caused a big strain on the island of the Maldives and of the people living on the islands. With everything being shut down due to the worldwide lockdown they weren’t able to get the normal tourism they are used to. According to an article I found, the authors stated, “Tourist arrivals plummeted by 67.4% and the economy contracted by 32.9%, the deepest recession on record” (Gentile et al., 2023). The Maldives is considered to be one of the higher end destination spots and people who visit tend to be on the wealthier side. During the COVID-19 pandemic in order to contain the spread of the virus, the borders were closed for the first time in history, between March 27 and July 15, 2020 (Hadad-Zervos, 2022). This caused many issues for the locals in the Maldives. This will always be a country that relies heavily on the economic impact of tourism like many other smaller countries.
Social and Environmental Impact of Tourism
In the Maldives, their common language consists of two: Dhivehi and Maldivian, an Indo-Aryan language closely related to Sinhala from Sri Lanka. The first known script in the Maldives is Dhivehi used to write the eveyla akuru script. Many ethnicities found here consist of Maldivian, Maldivian in Sri Lanka, Filipinos and Mahl people, with traces of Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African genes.
Maldivians practice Islam predominantly, celebrating Muslim festivals like Eid and following the Islamic Calendar. When visiting here, many tourists are suggested to keep their shoulders and knees covered in order to respect the local culture and preserve their religious faith. As an Islamic country, Maldivians are also staunch believers of prohibiting alcohol, however with tourists, drinks and common food are served in resorts on the island. Day to day life and society revolves heavily on patriarchy and women seen as subservient but hold influential positions in society’s workforce.
A big influence in Maldives’ culture is based on the island lifestyle and revolves around the sea, this culture is quite unique to them as they integrate fish and sea life into their cuisine and cooking. A couple of the most famous dishes served in the Maldives are Mas Huni – a smoked fish with shredded coconuts and onions.
The 20th century has also seen a rebirth of Maldivian arts and culture as they seek new fresh means of expressing themselves while also conserving and resurrecting age-old traditions. There are rich oral tradition of legends and folklore like spirits that haunt the islands. These legends deepen the interest of tourists since locals create evident craftmanship and artwork to represent these myths.
With these rich, positive impacts to Maldivian culture and social dynamics there are negatives that come with it. Property is passed on both to sons and daughters, and historically men went out to fish while women handled homes, families, and affairs outside. The Maldives are considered low poverty at the national level, even with tourism generating billions of dollars and making up 58.3% of Maldives’ total economy. This country as well has high STI rates with big stigmas and taboos related to sex work.
Maldives is a “tropical paradise” in the Indian Ocean, the stunning coral atolls, and crystal-clear lagoons with diverse landscapes. The coral reefs in the Maldives are approximately the 5th most diverse ecosystems of the world’s reef areas. Due to global warming and rising sea levels, they are causing warming of the seas and frequent tidal waves and flooding in Maldives. These tidal waves and floods contaminate the groundwater and sewage systems leading to disease outbreaks in the country. Due to this, there is a strict regulation on protected area in the Maldives. They have established guidelines for declaration and management of protected areas to ensure environmentally significant areas are conserved and sustainable to Maldivian society.
Many resorts and tour operations offer ecotourism activities like guided snorkeling tours, beach clean-ups and coral planting to learn more about the local environment and participating in contributions to conservation efforts. Due to certain activities that have eroded beaches, natural habitat destruction and damage to marine ecosystems these ecotourism plans have aided in positive sustainable tourism in the Maldives. Maldivians have started their journey in reducing their carbon footprint in the country and embark on the journey to sustainable tourism practice and protecting social/cultural resources.
References
Gentile, E., Mallari, M., & Valencia Abaigar, N. (2023, November 17). Beyond Tourism: Diversifying the Maldivian Economy for a Sustainable Future | Asian Development Blog. Blogs.adb.org. https://blogs.adb.org/blog/beyond-tourism-diversifying-maldivian-economy-sustainable-future
Hadad-Zervos, F. (2022, March 31). Beyond Tourism: The evolving narrative of Maldives’ growth. World Bank Blogs. https://blogs.worldbank.org/en/endpovertyinsouthasia/beyond-tourism-evolving-narrative-maldives-growth
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