Tourism and the South Asia littoral: Voices from the Maldives

South Asia: Journal of South Asia Studies

Volumn 28, Issue 3, 2005, Pages 457-480

  Yahya, Faizal ^a   Parameswaran, Ashvin ^a   Sebastian, Rodney ^a  

^a NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE   (Singapore)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

PUBLIC ATTITUDE; SOCIOECONOMIC IMPACT; TOURISM;

INDIAN OCEAN; INDIAN OCEAN ISLANDS; MALDIVES;

EID: 30844445805     PISSN: 00856401     EISSN: 14790270     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/00856400500337818     Document Type: Article

References (80)

1. N.A. Morner, M. Tooley and G. Possnert, 'New Perspectives For the Future Of the Maldives', in Global and Planetary Change, Vol.40, no.2 (2004), pp.177-82.
2. From Bay of Bengal Inter-Governmental Organisation website [http://www.bobpigo.org/dnload/map-Maldives.pdf, accessed 18 Nov. 2004].
3. R. Sathiendrakumar and C. Tisdell, 'Tourism and the Economic Development Of the Maldives', in Annals Of Tourism Research, Vol.16, no.2 (1989), p.255.
4. Tourism has sometimes been labeled a new form of colonialism. See R. Butler and T. Hinch, Tourism and Indigenous Peoples (London: International Thomson Business Press, 1996).
5. E. Cohen, 'Toward a Sociology Of International Tourism', in Social Research, Vol.39, no.1 (1972), p.198;
6. and E. Cohen, 'Rethinking the Sociology Of Tourism', in Annals Of Tourism Research, Vol.6, no.1 (1979), p.24.
7. Ministry of Planning and National Development (MPND), Statistical Yearbook Of Maldives 2003 (Male: MPND, 2003), Table 10.4.
8. WTO quote cited in United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Sustainable Tourism [http://www.uneptie.org/pc/tourism/sust-tourism/ home.htm, accessed 16 Nov. 2001].
9. WTO, Hainan Declaration: Sustainable Tourism in the Islands Of the Asia-Pacific Regions (Hainan: WTO/UNEP International Conference, 2000), p.2.
10. E. Cohen, The Pacific Islands from Utopian Myth to Consumer Product: The Disenchantment Of Paradise (Aix-en-Provence: Université de Droit, d'Economie et des Sciences, Centre des Hautes Études Touristiques, 1982), p.22.
11. Sathiendrakumar and Tisdell, 'Tourism and the Economic Development Of the Maldives', pp.254-68.
12. Examples are papers on the Maldives by Sathiendrakumar and Tisdell, 'Tourism and the Economic Development Of the Maldives', pp.254-68;
13. F. Ghina, 'Sustainable Development in Small Island Developing States: The Case Of the Maldives', in Environment, Development and Sustainability, Vol.5, no.5 (2003), pp.139-65;
14. and Morner, Tooley, and Possnert, 'New Perspectives for the Future Of the Maldives', pp.177-82.
15. WTO, Hainan Declaration, p.2.
16. N.K. Denzin, The Research Act: A Theoretical Introduction to Sociological Methods (Illinois: Prentice Hall, 1989), pp.237-47.
17. M.Q. Patton, Qualitative Research and Evaluation Methods (Thousand Oaks, Ca.: Sage, 2002), p.235. This method is applicable when a small heterogeneous sample base such as ours is used. It follows the logic that any common patterns that emerge from great variation are of particular value in capturing the core experiences of a setting. Thus we have a small number of Maldivians from each of the three categories (government sector, tourism sector and non-tourism sectors) but they vary in terms of occupational position within each sector.
18. See L. Kidder and M. Judd, Research Methods in Social Relations (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1986), pp.220-77.
19. Denzin, The Research Act, p.239.
20. MPND, Statistical Yearbook Of Maldives 2003, Table 16.3.
21. Ibid.
22. Ministry of Tourism (MOT), Review and Recommendations: Maldives Tourism Master Plan 1996-2005 (Male: MOT, 2003), p.71.
23. Ibid., p.76.
24. MPND, Statistical Yearbook Of Maldives 2003, Table 5.6.
25. In 1989 India intervened to thwart a coup attempt by Tamil separatists.
26. More research is needed to validate this point, especially with regard to Asian expatriates from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and India.
27. MOT, Review and Recommendations, pp.41-50;
28. MPND, Statistical Yearbook Of Maldives 2003, Table 5.6; and Sathiendrakumar and Tisdell, 'Tourism and the Economic Development Of the Maldives', p.261.
29. Rf is an abbreviation for the Rufiyaa, the name for the Maldivian currency. The exchange rate as at 26 January 2005 was approximately $US1 = Rf11.84, according to www.exchangerate.com.
30. D.G. Lockhart and D. Drakakis-Smith, Island Tourism: Trends and Prospects (New York: Pinter, 1997), p.12.
31. Sathiendrakumar and Tisdell, 'Tourism and the Economic Development Of the Maldives', p.265.
32. MOT, Review and Recommendations, p.75.
33. MPND, Statistical Yearbook Of Maldives 2003, Table 10.5.
34. The government's policies in other industries are not investor friendly. Further, citizenship is only offered to Muslims, a criterion which many foreign owners, managers, and controllers do not meet.
35. Ghina, 'Sustainable Development in Small Island Developing States', p.149.
36. Quoted in MPND, Sixth National Development Plan 2001-2005 (Male: MPND, 2002), p.2.
37. Ibid.
38. Bars are only allowed on resorts. Nevertheless, it is curious how a local in a staunchly Muslim country can be employed as a bartender. In the tourism statistics this occupation is designated 'Bar Helper'. Ostensibly these jobs assist the vocation 'Bar Man' in which no local is employed. According to this warped logic, therefore, 'helping' to serve alcohol is acceptable, but serving or drinking it is not. This line is, however, frequently crossed.
39. B.E.M. King, Creating Island Resorts (London: Routledge, 1997), p.178.
40. Other factors such as air linkages and spending power also contribute to this trend.
41. Halal food is food that is prepared in a way that makes it permissible for Muslims to consume.
42. MOT, Review and Recommendations, pp.116-9.
43. Lockhart and Drakakis-Smith, Island Tourism, p.4.
44. Carrying capacity refers to the environment's ability to continue producing goods and services. See E.W. Manning and T.D. Dougherty, 'Sustainable Tourism: Preserving the Golden Goose', in Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly, Vol.36, no.2 (1995), pp.29-42.
45. R. Sathiendrakumar and C.A. Tisdell, 'Economic Importance Of Tourism for Small Indian Ocean and Pacific Island States', in C.A. Tisdell, C.J. Aislabie, and P.J. Stanton (eds), Economics Of Tourism: Case Study and Analysis (Newcastle: University of Newcastle, 1988), p.221.
46. MOT, Maldives Tourism Act (Male: MOT, 1999), p.6.
47. Similar points were echoed by a secondary school teacher and a waitress.
48. Perceptual aspects refer to the level of use before a decline in the user's recreational experience.
49. See H. Melinda, B. Nancarrow, G. Griffin and G. Syme, 'Tourist Perception Of Environmental Impact', in Annals Of Tourism Research, Vol. 28, no. 4 (2001), pp.853-67.
50. Ghina, 'Sustainable Development in Small Island Developing States', p.151.
51. Ibid.
52. MPND, Statistical Yearbook Of Maldives 2003, Table 10.3.
53. S. Saeed, 'Environmental Impact Management in the Tourism Industry Of the Maldives', in K. Sawkar, L. Noronha, A. Mascarenhas, O.S. Chauhan and S. Saeed, Tourism and the Environment: Case Studies on Goa, India, and the Maldives (Washington: Economic Development Institute of the World Bank, 1998), p.23.
54. Ibid., pp.22-5.
55. Ibid., p.22.
56. Groynes are structures jutting into the stream or sea which are keyed into or supported by the bank. Constructing groynes is the most common method of countering lateral erosion in an outer bank.
57. Ghina, 'Sustainable Development in Small Island Developing States', p.157.
58. B. Keogh, 'Public Participation in Community Tourism Planning', in Annals Of Tourism Research, Vol.17, no.3 (1990), pp.449-65.
59. Lockhart and Drakakis-Smith, Island Tourism, p.4.
60. A. Gray, 'Ibn Batuta in the Maldives and Ceylon', in Journal Of the Ceylon Branch Of the Royal Asiatic Society (New Delhi: Asian Educational Services Publications, rpr. 1999), trans. from the French of M.M. Defremery and B.R. Sanguinetti, p.14.
61. Ibid., p.16.
62. MPND, Statistical Yearbook Of the Maldives 2003, Table 5.6.
63. Ibid., Table 5.5.
64. C. Tosun, 'Host Perceptions Of Impacts: A Comparative Tourism Study', in Annals Of Tourism Research, Vol.29, no.1 (2002), pp.231-53.
65. Sathiendrakumar and Tisdell, 'Tourism and the Economic Development Of the Maldives', p.259.
66. Theft accounted for 3,584 cases of a total of 6,790 offences committed in the Maldives in 1997. Interpol, International Crime Statistics: Maldives (Internet Edition), 1997, p. 1, [http://web.archive.org/web/ 20030917210216/www.interpol.int/Public/Statistics/ICS/1997/ Maldives1997.pdf, accessed 18 Nov. 2004].
67. Ghina, 'Sustainable Development in Small Island Developing States', p.147.
68. Ibid.
69. MPND, Statistical Yearbook Of Maldives 2003, Table 5.6.
70. C.A. Joseph and. A.P. Kavoori, 'Mediated Resistance: Tourism and the Host Community', in Annals Of Tourism Research, Vol.28, no.4 (2001), pp.998-1009.
71. Lockhart and Drakakis-Smith, Island Tourism, p.12.
72. G. Brown, 'South Asia Tourism Development', in Tourism Management, Vol.9, no.3 (1988), p.243.
73. MOT, Tourism Statistics 2002 (Male: MOT, 2002), Table 26.
74. Ibid.
75. Ibid.
76. F. Ascher, Tourism: Transnational Corporations and Cultural Identities (Paris: UNESCO, 1985), p.12.
77. J. Bugnicourt, 'Tourism: The Other Face', in Development Forum, Vol.5, no.6, cited in Ascher, Tourism, Transnational Corporations and Cultural Identities, p.20.
78. Ibid., p.12.
79. MOT, Review and Recommendations, p.11.
80. Ghina, 'Sustainable Development in Small Island Developing States', p.148.