According to Reuters, Indian tourists are boycotting holidays in the Maldives after a scandal on social networks. Over the past few days, bookings to the archipelago have dropped by 40%.
The reason was a harmless post by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the Telegram social network: he told how he was vacationing on the Lakshadweep Islands (India) off the coast of the Indian state of Kerala. There he walked along the snow-white sand and went diving.
After this, some Maldivian officials decided that Modi was trying to lure Indian tourists from the Maldives in this way. They called him a “clown,” a “terrorist,” and a “puppet of Israel.”
It must be said that the government of the Maldives did not support the attacks on the officials and even dismissed three of them from their positions – the deputy ministers of employment, information, and art.
This was not enough for tourists from India: they organized a boycott of the Maldives, canceling previously booked tours and posting the hashtags #BoycottMaldives and #ExploreIndianIslands on social networks. Public figures from Bollywood actors to cricketers joined the boycott. Soon, Indian travel platform EaseMyTrip suspended flight bookings to the Maldives.
The bulk of canceled tours occur in February and March.
Meanwhile, Indian travel company MakeMyTrip reported that interest in the Lakshadweep Islands has skyrocketed by 3,400%. The archipelago is unlikely to be able to cope with the influx of tourists: there are only 150 hotels there, and planes fly once a week.