Tourism officials in the Maldives maintain that it is business as usual following Saturday's bomb attack in the country's capital.

A British honeymoon couple was among 12 tourists injured in the blast in a park in the capital, Male.

Hameed Zakariyya, the Deputy Minister for Tourism, said there have been no noticeable cancellations by British holidaymakers.

"Given the Maldives' unique geographical layout of one resort per island, it is highly unlikely that tourism to the country will suffer," he said.

"The capital remains calm and in all resorts the pace of life continues to remain tranquil. This is the first incident of its kind in the history of the Maldives and we see this as an isolated incident."

Kuoni Travel, one of Britain's largest operators to the Maldives, said it has not had any cancellations and no one has asked to return home early.

"At this stage it is too early to say whether there will be a significant impact on tourism to the region," said Kuoni's director of customer services Francis Torrilla.

"Travellers are more resilient than in the past to international incidents such as this, so we are optimistic that tourism will continue as normal."

The injured British travellers, Christian and Jennifer Donelan, suffered serious burns and will return to Manchester for their medical care tomorrow.

Local reports say two people have been arrested in connection with the explosion. It was thought to be a homemade nail bomb, but no motive has yet been established.

The Foreign Office (www.fco.gov.uk) said it was in close contact with the Maldivian authorities and is currently monitoring the situation carefully. It maintains that there is a low threat from terrorism.

Courtesy:  The Telegraph

Published in : The News, National News

Keywords : News, National News, Maldives: 'business as usual'

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