Maldives leisure sector recognised in country’s first travel and tourism awards
View(s):Male, Maldives -The Maldives Association for Travel Agents and Tour Operators (MATATO) recently honoured the travel and tourism industry with the first-ever Maldives travel awards.
The award ceremony was held on 28th September at Paradise Island Resort. Awards for 21 categories including resorts, hotels, liveaboards and aviation were awarded trophies.
“The event began with awarding of appreciation plaques to Mr Abdulla Jabir, Mr. Yoosuf Riffath and Mr. Maleeh Jamal for their contribution to the development of MATATO,” according to a MATATO media release. Senior management members of top hotel chains in Maldives attended the event. Members of the executive board of MATATO and the Minister of State for Tourism, Arts and Culture also attended the event.
The judging panel and expert panel, appointed by MATATO, was made up of Dr. Mahamood Shougee (Former Minister of Tourism and Civil Aviation), Dr. Ahmed Adham Abdulla (CEO of MTCC), Ms. Zeenaz Hussain (Dean of Faculty of Hospitality and Tourism Studies), and Ghaly Murthala (Tourism Development Consultant for FJS Consulting Pvt Ltd). “This is a dream come true for us here at MATATO and sets a precedence for many awards to come. We believe this is just the beginning and hopefully we have learnt a lot from this year’s first experience and this will help us built better and more comprehensive awards for 2013,” noted Mohamed Khaleel, President of MATATO. MATATO was founded in 2006 and currently, the association represents more than 70 travel agents and tour operators in the Maldives.
“We urge all stakeholders to support local travel agents and especially the hotels, to give preference to local agents and allow us to play on fair grounds with other international operators. We also request more local agents and hotels to join us as members, and this will add to our synergy and betterment of this organization,” added Mr Khaleel Winners:
Leading Luxury Hotel – Hulhule Island Hotel;
Leading Wellness & Spa Resort – Six Senses Laamu
Leading Business Hotel – Paradise Island Resort
Leading Cruise Brand – Voyages Maldives
Leading Budget Hotel – Adaaran Club Rannalhi
Leading Cruiser – Dhaainkanbaa
Leading Luxury Resort – Anantara Kihavah Villas
Leading Resort Website – Adaaran Select Meedhupparu
Leading Beach Resort – LUX Maldives
Leading Liveaboard Website – Island Pearl
Most Romantic Resort – Naladhu Maldives
Most Supportive Resort given by MATATO members – Sun Island Resort & Spa Leading Dive Resort – Sun Island Resort & Spa Leading Domestic Airport – Villa Maamigili Airport Leading Surf Resort – Chaaya Island Dhonveli Leading International Airline – Emirates Leading ECO Resort – Coco Palm Dhuni Kolhu Leading Family Resort – Centara Grand Island Resort & spa, Maldives Leading Meeting & Conference Resort – Sun Island Resort & Spa Leading Meeting & Conference Center – Sun Island Resort & Spa Leading Wellness & Spa Brand – Chavana Spa A tourism personality award of lifetime achievement was awarded to Ibrahim Gasim for his achievements and contribution to the development of the hospitality industry in Maldives.
Follow @timesonlinelk
Related Posts:
Louis Vitton tourist resort in upmarket MaldivesSri Lanka may be going the wrong way in still tapping the mass market in a region crowded with this ...
New GM for Centara in Sri LankaCentara Hotels and Resorts in Sri Lanka will be headed by the new appointment of its Cluster General Manager for ...
Cinnamon Lodge and Chaaya Wild win bigtime at Sri Lanka Tourism AwardsJohn Keells Resorts bagged three coveted awards at the recently-held Sri Lanka Tourism Awards 2011. Winning the award for the ‘Best ...
Hilton likely to manage LOLC’s 500-room resortLOLC Leisure has almost finalised the international hotel chain operator to manage its planned new Rs 6.5 billion, 500- room ...
UK arrivals to Sri Lanka rise, drop in the MaldivesA resort in the Maldives . Pic courtesy maldivestourism.net