DTIS, Volume I - Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF)

A. MINISTRY OF TOURISM
In July 2005, responsibility for civil aviation was added to the portfolio of the tourism
ministry to create a Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation, in accordance with a
recommendation in the Second Tourism Master Plan.
Prior to the expanded portfolio of civil aviation, the ministry had a staff of 44 and defined
its purpose as follows:
“To develop tourism at a national level, and carry out long-term planning,
development, monitoring, and regulatory functions to ensure a sustainable tourism
industry for the benefit of the people of the Maldives.”
The vision of the ministry is:
“For the Maldives to be the best example of sustainable tourism development - a
nation with an economically profitable tourism industry in harmony with its
natural environment, cultural resources, and the values of its people.”
And the mission is to:
”Improve the quality of life of the Maldivian people by optimizing and balancing
the economic, environmental, and socio-cultural benefits of tourism, with
equitable distribution of these benefits to the society, while minimizing the
possible negative impacts of tourism.”
Among the ministry’s official main goals and objectives are:
1 To increase economic benefits of tourism including national income,
employment, net foreign exchange earnings, regional development, and
revenues to the government;
2 To ensure equitable distribution of the economic benefits of tourism to the
society;
3 To make tourism a vehicle for the protection of the natural environment, and
the revitalization and preservation of the nation's cultural assets;
4 To maintain a strong private sector role in the industry while enhancing the
operating environment and facilitating the private sector to achieve the desired
benefits of tourism;
5 To increase Maldivian participation at all levels of the industry, especially to
increase the participation of women in this industry;
6 To nurture a society that understands the value of tourism to the nation, and its
critical role in the future prosperity of the country and its people;
7 To remain competitive in the global market by continuously expanding and
diversifying the product, enhancing the quality of services, and become
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