Maldives continues to lose Indian passengers as Lakshadweep gains
April to June quarter, which is a peak travel month in India, saw Agatti handle 22,990 passengers as compared to 11,074 passengers in the same period 2023.
The India-Maldives diplomatic relations have not been at the best of levels since the new government led by Mohamed Muizzu came to power last year. This had led to clarion calls by social media influencers to boycott Maldives, which had in the last few years become a popular spot for Indians with improved connectivity. While it took its own turn at diplomatic level, a visit to Lakshadweep by Prime Minister Modi in January this year, sent off another call to visit Lakshadweep instead of Maldives. As things settle on the diplomatic front, Maldives has fallen out of favour for Indians with Indian tourists visiting Maldives sliding drastically. Interestingly, the addition of more seats to Agatti, Lakshadweep has led to more passengers flying to Lakshadweep during the same time.
The April to June quarter, which is also the peak travel month in India, saw Agatti, the only airport in Lakshadweep handle 22,990 passengers as compared to 11,074 passengers in the same period last year, thus doubling the footfalls.
Data released by the ministry of tourism in Maldives shows that Indian tourists numbered only 28,604 in the April to June quarter this year, compared to 54,207 Indian tourists in the same period last year. This is a drop of nearly 50%. The data also shows that Muizzu’s call to China to send more tourists seems to have worked with China claiming the number one spot with 1.2 lakh tourists in the first six months of 2024. Indians on the other hand were only 63,450 - a drop of 42.5% and India became the sixth market for tourism in Maldives. Overall, tourist arrivals in Maldives increased 9.2% in the first half of 2024, compared to the same period last year and the Indian boycott seems to have had a large effect on the dwindling numbers.
Lakshadweep flights up
Agatti also saw an increase in flight count with an 88% increase. There were 786 movements in the April to June period, which was 418 in the previous year for the same period. Apart from the daily service of Alliance Air from Kochi, which was increased early this year, IndiGo and Fly91 also operate to Kochi. Alliance Air now operates eight times a week, while IndiGo operates daily from Kochi. IndiGo also operates a daily service from Bengaluru while Fly91 operates a daily service from Goa. This has nearly quadrapuled the seats available to Lakshadweep.
Lakshadweep also makes it on the cruise map these days with cruises making a day stop at the island. These tourists are over and above the ones which are flying into the island.
Maldives flights down
Data provided by Cirium - an aviation analytics company, exclusively for this article shows that the flights between India and Maldives remained nearly the same when compared to last year for this period. However, the outlook does not seem positive from the airlines perspective with IndiGo not reinstating its four times a week service from Delhi and thrice a week service from Hyderabad for the winter schedule, while Air India pulling out completely this winter.
Surprising as it may seem, but there were 59 weekly departures between India and Maldives In June 2022, bang in the middle of the pandemic while there were only 44 weekly departures in June 2024. Maldives had become an escape from the pandemic with the need to have RT-PCR pre-travel, giving a feeling of safety and ability to roam around the hotels and being confined to the resorts, which was better than being confined to homes in India. It also was one of the few countries where tourism had restarted.
Tail Note
The boycott trend has often been restricted to social media for many things in the past. Has it worked in the case of Maldives? It probably has. All the passengers have definitely not diverted to Lakshadweep. A plethora of destinations were available with direct flights over the last one year. From Denpasar, Bali to Jakarta and Baku to Tbilisi, Indian carriers have expanded rapidly. Either visa free or visa on arrival regimes for Indian passport holders have also meant travellers have options like never before. Travellers look at total cost amongst other things while planning a holiday.
Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia have come up as potential alternatives to Maldives where pristine beaches and added options to travel around will further put pressure on Maldives, apart from nationalism. Will the trends reverse or is Maldives happy to not have Indians as long as its overall numbers look positive?