The photo shows one of the traditional dresses of Maldivian women.

Top – The dress known as ‘Libaas’ is made mostly of plain colours with intricate hand woven embroidery made of colourful & glittery threads. This kind of hand woven embroidery has become very rare in the Maldives now as well as the dress itself. Except the use for cultural events and performances, few old women in some islands still wear them. Libaas without the embroidery is seen slightly more.

Bottom – The skirt known as ‘Feyli’ is always in plain black with two white lines running across on the bottom and a slit along the side/back. The everyday version of feyli known as ‘kandiki’ is plain black without the white lines. The old women who still wear the plain libaas accompany it with ‘kandiki’ rather than ‘feyli’.

Head Piece – When a woman wears libaas & feyli, she normally wears her hair in a bun (known as ‘hulhi’) on the side of her head. This bun is covered with a head piece called ‘Rumaa Falhi’ which literally means ‘Half a handkerchief’. This piece sometimes comes with elaborate designs and intricate embroidery as well.

Jewellery – The gold or gold plated chain is called ‘Karu Fattaru Bai’ and is never used for every-day purposes in the present day. However, the traditional Maldivian women’s attire will be incomplete without it!

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Wherever I have lived I have had my ‘most’ favourite food joint (among the dozens of favourites). Naturally those would be the few special places where I’d have eaten the most number of times in that particular city but not necessarily the most elegant, well-known or unique. However these places are usually relatively small, cozy (not the food court) with a personal touch and they served great food.

Here’s the list of my some of my personal favourites. If ever you are in these cities I recommend you give them a try.

Ohri’s Food Court (Hyderabad, India)

Prasad’s IMAX

Neckles Road, Hyderabad

Tel: +91 98 6677 8043 / 44

Email: sales@ohris.com

(My favourite was threaded chicken & an awesome chocolate cake dessert with ice-cream called a bullseye!)

The Big Chill Café (New Delhi, India)

HS-5 Kailash Colony Market

New Delhi 110065

Tel : +91 11 4655 6828

Email : kk@thebigchillcafe.com

(Everything on the menu is great. The blueberry cheese cake is superb!)

Rangoli Indian Restaurant (Singapore)

226 Pasir Panjang Road
Tel: +65 6777 6413

(My favourites were Chicken tikka masala, butter naan & mango lassi)

Istanbul Turkish Restaurant (Beijing, China)

B7 Xiushui Nanjie, Jianguomenwai,

Jianguomen (Behind the Friendship Store)

建国门外秀水南街B7号

友谊商店后边

Tel: +86 6503 2700

Wonder if everyone develop their favourites in different cities?

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However, if you know where to look it is possible to enjoy an amazing yet affordable vacation in the Maldives.

I wanted to share some reasonable travel packages advertised by www.maldivesholidayoffers.com. With a 7 nights package for only US$681 per person, this could perhaps be among the cheapest available travel packages to the Maldives, though I could be wrong.

Hope this would help someone enjoy their dream vacation!

Photo: http://www.maldivesholidayoffers.com/

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1. How to get to the Maldives – Approved travel agents
2. Does tourism help the poor in the Maldives?
3. Vote for Maldives as a new world wonder!
4. Maldives beyond the beautiful beaches…
5. Welcome to the Maldives.

If we look at purchasing power parity terms (PPP), the economy of China is the second largest in the world after the US with a GDP of USD 6.9 trillion (2007) and fourth largest in the world when measured in exchange rate terms, with a nominal GDP of USD 3.42 trillion (2007). China has had an average annual GDP growth rate above 10%, making it the fastest growing major nation for the past quarter of a century. China’s percapita income has grown at an average annual rate of more than 8% over the last three decades, increasing the number of wealthy people drastically. According to the Ministry of Commerce of China[1], the country has more than 50 million people with an annual income between USD 40,000 – USD 140,000.

These facts make China an extremely important market for countries like the Maldives, a major part of whose income is dependent on tourist arrivals. While the major economies in the west are slowing down towards a full blown recession, China has not been affected equally (at least not yet). Therefore, a major orientation towards promotion of commercial exchanges between China and other Asian countries is a necessary step, at a critical point during the world economy.

It is useful to note that due to barriers in entry like language, assurance of quality etc, entrance to the Chinese market has been considered with a significant amount of reluctance, especially in the Maldives. However, I’d say it is time that we change that mindset and make full use of the opportunities available to us through this massive market.

China has recently moved up the ranks in the Maldives tourist arrival figures to become the biggest market in Asia, by passing Japan. Between Jan – Sept 2008, 31,511 Chinese tourists visited the Maldives, which is a 17.1% increase from the same period in 2007[2]. Hence entering the Chinese market in a big way and promoting our tourism in China could be easily become a bottomless pot of gold!

Here’s a list of the biggest and most important tourist fairs in China in 2009. This is definitely a great opportunity for Maldivian resorts, hotels, tourist companies and travel agents to promote their businesses in China & boost their income. Maybe it could save our economy and stop Maldives from becoming the world’s most indebted country.

GITF, Guangzhou International Travel Fair, Guangzhou, 26-29 Mar 2009
http://www.gitf.com.cn/index.php?scriptlet=CMS/Start&id=914&language=en

WTF, World Travel Fair, Shanghai 9-11 April, 2009
http://www.worldtravelfair.com.cn/

ALTM, Asia Luxury Travel Market, Shanghai, 15-18/June 2008
http://www.altm.com.cn/page.cfm/ID=1/trackLogID=131336_B075F7705A

BITE, Beijing International Tourism Expo, 23-25/June 2009
http://www.bitechina.com.cn/

[1] From a presentation on workshop for commecial officials of South Asian Countries I attended
[2] Maldives Statistical Yearbook 2008

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1. Cheap Travel Packages to Maldives
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3. How will China rise from the ‘tainted milk crisis’?
4. I just found home!
5. Does tourism help the poor in the Maldives?

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1. Vote for Maldives as a new world wonder!
2. Cheap Travel Packages to Maldives
3. How to get to the Maldives – Approved travel agents
4. Maldives beyond the beautiful beaches…
5. Does tourism help the poor in the Maldives?

As soon as one hears the name Maldives, people associate it with beautiful beaches and luxurious resort islands. Few people are aware of the customs, traditions, ethnicity, lifestyle and folklore in the Maldives.

Here are some websites I came across, which offers a pretty interesting array of information on the Maldivian people, folklore, industry and crafts, scripts, rituals and island life etc. Although, not all of these sites have very up-to-date information in some of the areas, I’d consider it a good base of basic information on the Maldives for those interested.

It’s definitely worth having a look.

Maldives Culture

Maldives Ethnography

Maldives Recipes

Inner Maldives

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5. Welcome to the Maldives.

For everyone who’s interested in visiting the Maldives and unsure about how to get there, here’s a list of approved travel agents operating in the Maldives. These agents can help from your pre-arrival to your accomodation, transport, extension of visa or any other special requests you may have during your travels.

For more information on visiting the Maldives, accomodation and information for tourists in the Maldives, please visit the official website of the Maldives Tourism Promotion Board.

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1. Cheap Travel Packages to Maldives
2. Does tourism help the poor in the Maldives?
3. Vote for Maldives as a new world wonder!
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5. Welcome to the Maldives.

I was really contemplating long before I decided on blogging about this. In the end, I decided to write hoping it could help people do things better next time around.

I was in Yantai, a coastal city in Shandong Province in South East China to participate in a travel fair organised by Yantai Municipal Government and a few other big companies in the industry.

I was there with my colleague and we weren’t too thrilled with the level of organisation even from the beginning. Nonetheless, we tried to do our best trying to promote the Maldives and our tourism industry. We had a booth to provide information for tourists, distribute promotional material etc.

It was a three-day long fair and on the second day, we went out for lunch hour to get some quick food outside the expo centre. We packed our stuff in a cupboard that we rented and kept in the booth to safe-keep our expensive equipment like projectors, laptops etc. We returned in less than an hour to find our booth without the huge standing posters and 2 of our national flags that were fixed on to the wooden panels!

Now, I can understand someone stealing beautiful life-size posters of the Maldivian beaches but the national flags of a country that you don’t belong to? Why? That too, in a crowded exhibition where the booth was surrounded by at least four other booths with people in them and a dozen security guards in the same section? Wanna guess what the security was doing when they stole from our booth? They were busy checking out the entertainment in other booths. Also our neighbours who saw the culprits, didn’t bother stopping them or calling the security. To make matters worse, the huge exhibition centre has no security cameras!

Now for an economy that we clam to be booming, China has a lot to catch up to, before it can get the trust of the international community interested in doing business, working together and entering their markets. It isn’t only in the rapidly rising buildings, swiftly expanding industries or the mounting GDP figures that should show China’s maturing development, but it is also in the little things that go on behind the scenes.

China has still a long way to go before it could level up to the developed economies in providing quality services, maintaining standards and building institutions that will protect the interests of the parties involved in various business and commercial exchanges. Still one must not forget the speed of China’s progress and should only hope that China will keep learning from the small and big mistakes in its testing development path, to improve itself for the future.

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1. Cheap Travel Packages to Maldives

Getting visa to Maldives is probably the most easy and convenient among all travel destinations I know. Although many people who want to travel to the Maldives may not be aware of this, Maldives is an extremely tourist-friendly country and we welcome tourists. Maldives has made entry to the country extremely convenient and easy for travelers.

Here’s important visa regulations and information from the Department of Immigration and Emigration of the Maldives.

To enter Maldives NO pre-arrival visa is required.

A thirty day free visa is issued on arrival for all Nationalities, provided the following conditions are met:

- Should posses a valid passport

- Have a valid ticket to continue the journey out of Maldives

- Have enough funds to cover the expenses for duration of the stay in Maldives. (US$100 + $50 dollars per day) or a confirmation of reservation in a Tourist Resort or a Hotel

Caution: Full thirty day visa is not a right of the passenger to claim, but lies at the discretion of the Immigration to issue not more than thirty days and any period less than thirty days. EMPLOYMENT IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED UNDER THIS CATEGORY.

Sponsorship

A foreigner maybe allowed to enter Maldives through the sponsorship program. The sponsor should fill and submit the related application form available at the Immigration.

The foreigner should not travel to Maldives under this program, until the sponsorship is approved. It is the responsibility of the foreigner to ensure that the sponsorship has been approved, failing upon which the foreigner maybe refused entry.

A sponsor could be a local or a locally registered company.

Renewal of Tourist Visa

A Tourist visa may be renewed if the person concerned, applies to the Immigration before the expiration of the visa already granted. Before the extension, the Immigration Department will re-asses the incumbents financial position for the stay period of the extension. An extension can only be applied through the Visa Extension Application Form, at the Head Office during official working hours. Extension if considered would be granted to a duration not exceeding a total of 90 days (including the days granted on arrival). A visa fee of Rufiyaa 750 (1USD = 12.85 Rufiyaa) will be charged, for the full extension or part thereof (30 days free + 60 days chargeable) No visa fee will be charged if the extension does not exceed 30 days, that is including the days granted on arrival. Foreigners who stay beyond the approved stay, maybe deported.

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1. Cheap Travel Packages to Maldives
2. How to get to the Maldives – Approved travel agents
3. Does tourism help the poor in the Maldives?
4. I just found home!
5. China – the best market for Asian tourist nations