Maldives now a destination of choice for Chinese visitors

Travellers departing flight LV199 from Shanghai into the international airport of the Maldives, many dressed in designer labels, are an unmistakable sign of China’s interest in the far-flung archipelago.

Their arrival – visitors from the mainland are now the biggest group of tourists to the Indian Ocean islands – has been accompanied by greater diplomatic engagement in the Maldives by Beijing, which is investing widely around South Asia.

Recently married Chen Hui and Fang Ye, 20-something business executives from near Shanghai, are returning for their second trip and heading to a resort by speed boat where over-the-water bungalows start at US$500 a night.

“Most of our friends come here on their honeymoon,” Fang told reporters, who said they were looking forward to doing some fishing and posing for photos on the sun-kissed white sands that draw nearly a million visitors a year.

The Maldives has been promoted as a destination in China’s media, she said, with the Islamic republic benefiting from its status as an “approved destination” by the Communist Party government.

Chinese now comprise nearly a quarter of all tourists annually, triggering a recruitment race for Mandarin-speaking hosts, waiters and diving instructors at five-star hotels.