Skift Take
At the center of a political conflict between the ousted president and new leader are religious regulations that could hamper the islands’ image as an oasis and drive away its steadiest source of revenue.
Growing Islamisation could lead to the banning of spas, same-sex beaches and alcohol from holiday resorts in the Maldives, the country’s former president believes.
Mohamed Nasheed, the Maldives’ first democratically elected leader, who was ousted on February 7, said the influence of hardliners in the current coalition government, led by the former vice-president, Mohammed Waheed Hassan, and including the Islamic Adhaalath Party, could have a dramatic impact on the future of tourism in the archipelago.
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="350"] Tourism accounts for a third of the Maldives' GDP. Photo by Badruddeen.[/caption]
“I think that is the direction we are going,” he said in an interview with Telegraph Travel. “They are talking about alcohol-free resorts, about getting non-drinking tourists to come in from Iran. I can easily imagine holidaymakers being prosecuted for kissing in public, as in some Muslim countries.”
Referring to a recent campaign by the mi
