Maldives lures visitors, deals

Petchanet Pratruangkrai

The Nation

Maldives June 10, 2013 1:00 am

Leading Thai hospitality and security companies plan to continue expanding their investment in the Maldives as it has become a popular among travellers.

Supatra Chirathivat, senior vice president of Centara Hotels and Resorts, said the company would establish a third resort in Maldives in the next three years after the successful operation of two five-star resorts in the archipelago.

“Under the one island, one resort policy of the Maldivian government, Centara plans to operate a variety of resorts in Maldives with quality and luxury service by adopting Thai hospitality,” she said.

The company has not finalised yet the capital investment budget, but expects it will be similar to the second resort, which cost about US$65 million (Bt2 billion).

To set up resorts in the Maldives, the government allows a 30-year contract. Each investor must vow that the resort will be self-reliant and environmentally friendly.

Supatra said the firm was confident of strong business growth in Maldives as the islands have become increasingly popularity among travellers, in particular those in the upper market.

Also, more Thai travellers have come to the islands thanks to direct flights operated by Bangkok Airways.

This year, about 1.2 million tourists are projected to visit the Maldives, an increase by 20 per cent from last year.

Centara’s 2 resorts in the Maldives employ about 38 Thais working in the spas and Thai restaurants.

Meanwhile Loxley has joined with AGT International to set up a company to undertake a safe-city project in the Maldives.

Sompop Chareonkul, senior executive vice president of Loxley, said it was pursuing a contract from the Maldivian government to conduct a study on a project to set up a stringent security system.

“With experience in security systems and a good partner, the company is confident of winning the contract,” he said.

Hasan Malik, vice president of sales and business development, Asia-Pacific, at AGT Group (Singapore), said the company had not yet estimated an investment budget for the safe-city project. AGT will spend about three months conducting a study on providing the system and hardware to improve security in the islands.

The project will emphasise predicting future crimes to prepare people and prevent such problems, as well as managing security.

AGT is an experienced company in security systems. It previously won a contract from the Abu Dhabi government to set up such a system.

Sompop said Loxley also planned to propose a safe-city project to the Thai government to raise security in places such as Samui, Phuket, Chiang Mai, and the deep South.

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Maldives lures visitors, deals