Tourism Yearbook 2009 Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture Republic of Maldives © Copyright Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, 2009 Tourism Yearbook 2009 ISBN 99915-95-45-7 First Print: May 2009 Produced and Published by Statistics & Research Section Ministry of Tourism Arts and Culture 6th Floor, ADK Tower Ameer Ahmed Magu Male’ 20094 Republic of Maldives Tel: +960 330 4952 Fax: +960 330 4951 E-mail:
[email protected] Website: www.tourism.gov.mv Data Compilation & Verifi cation: Mariyam Sharmeela, Silma Ali, Aishath Yamna Concept: Mariyam Sharmeela, Aminath Fazla Layout & Design: Mariyam Sharmeela Editor: Moosa Zameer Hassan Cover Photos: Ahmed Shareef Nafees, Muhamed (Muha), Moosa Easa, Caroline Von Tuemplin, Mohamed Azmeel, Mohamed Musaaidh, Mohamed Siraj (Sidey) Inside Photos: Shazeen Abdul Samad, Andrea Pohlman, Caroline Von Tuemplin, Shaahina Ali Printed by: M7 Print Private Limited Welcome to the Tourism Yearbook 2009! It is with great pleasure that I present to you this annual publication of Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture. Undoubtedly tourism is a very dynamic sector and timely dissemination of statistics is vital due to the signifi cance of the industry. With this in mind, the Tourism Yearbook is published with the objective of providing comprehensive and latest statistical information on tourism industry, to the relevant Government authorities as well as private sector, institutions and individuals. This annual publication highlights key tourism indicators of the Maldives for the past fi ve years and provides information on the performance of the Maldives tourism industry in 2008. Year 2008 had been an eventful year for the Maldives, in terms of politics within the country as well as economic changes in the Maldives and around the world.