Saturday
27th Apr 2024
Dhivehi Edition
The first tourists to visit Dhiggaru under home stay project. Photo: Mihaaru
M. Dhiggaru Council has reported that no tourists visited the island since the introduction of the Home Stay tourism project.
“HomeStay” project took off with the aim of elevating the tourist experience where visitors could stay at private residences in the islands. Dhiggaru welcomed the first ever home stay guests in the Maldives in January, who stayed at the newly renovated “Moorithi” house at a rate of 40 US Dollars per night.
Although the first four tourists were warmly received at Dhiggaru on January 1st for opening night, after which no tourists arrived for the next nine months.
Dhiggaru council said in April that the lack of tourists was because homestay licenses were issued to tourism novices. Although the council organized sessions with experienced parties in the island, no improvement was seen.
Dhiggaru Council president, Ahmed Nishaan told TMJ that the council has plans to implement better marketing techniques to appeal to visitors. He said that they will be focusing on launching a new website and running advertisements instead of holding training sessions.
Council President said that they are awaiting confirmation from the Minister of Environment, Climate Change and Technology, Aminath Shauna to set dates for website and council portal launch so that she can attend the launching ceremony. The ceremony was previously set to take place on the 30th of this month.
Additionally, the council also has plans to expand island-based guest house businesses. Currently, only Moorithi house holds the license to host homestay visitors on the island.
Minister of Tourism Abdulla Mausoom had previously said that homestay was a concept that will result in a thriving economy for the island-folk as it will bring about a steady income so that no islander will be helpless at the end of the calendar month. Minister Mausoom said that homestay will bring wealth into the country as well.