Five lakhs. That’s the population of Maldives. This is around the population of a small Indian city like Ulhasnagar or Siliguri. Last week, sitting ministers of this tiny nation did something bizarre. Unprovoked, they trolled the PM of a neighboring nation with a population of 140 crore people on X (previously Twitter). They made tasteless, despicable, idiotic and borderline abusive remarks in response to PM Modi’s post with pictures from his recent visit to Lakshadweep. They made their derogatory remarks against Lakshadweep and the PM.
Nothing in the PM’s posts mentioned Maldives. There was no reason for these said ministers (now suspended, rightly so) to get involved. What probably triggered these ministers was that the PM’s post had pictures of Lakshadweep. The pictures showed crystal blue waters and skies, powdery sand – the typical tropical island paradise people often associate Maldives with. The fact that the PM visited an equally beautiful as Maldives, right here in India, made these ministers lose their coconuts. Their tasteless outrage made Lakshadweep trip go viral, bringing a renewed interest in the destination (even I want to go now!). It also made many many Indians against the Maldives. What an amazing real life, international example of the Hindi saying – axing your own foot!
India is a giant compared to the Maldives to actually pick a fight with. We need worthy opponents. Maldives isn’t one of them. Also, to be fair, the Maldives government took action, suspending the ministers immediately. We should not spoil relations with Maldives because of the dumbness of a few.
However, what we can do, is to give Maldives some real healthy competition. The tiny nation has indeed become a little smug about its unique island beauty or whatever. Fueled by social media like Instagram, influencers have pumped Maldives by making reel after reel of breakfast being served in the water (overrated, think toast floating out into the sea and the butter knife sinking below). Bikini clad models love Maldives as a backdrop, their posts racking up millions of views and driving up demand for the ultimate destination on the planet – Maldives.
I have been there – once. It was for a birthday celebration. And because I was with friends and certain intoxicating beverages were served, I had a good time. But if I have my friends and intoxicating beverages, I can have a good time in Ghaziabad as well. Take those aspects out, and I found Maldives boring. Insta reels of Maldives had great background music. There isn’t any when actually you get there. In thirty minutes or an hour, you get used to the blue sea and are done admiring the natural beauty of the place (ya fine, what’s the wifi password again? Mostly it was old white people, the kind of demographic who can afford the place. They were paying $1,000 a night to get away from the world. Mostly they read books by the beach, which you can also read back home. Anyway, I have no judgement for Maldives lovers, let’s just say that place just wasn’t for me. It’s mostly a flex – a hard to get to super expensive place, to post from to show the world that you are a point one percenter. Whatever.
What Maldives doesn’t realize, and here in lies India’s opportunity, is that rich people get bored. The mega rich always need something even more exclusive. Now, if even the participants of Big Boss season 23 are posting reels from Maldives, is it really a flex to go there?
Lakshadweep on the other hand, is still that undiscovered gem. People outside of India don’t even know it exists. Indians know it does, mostly because it was drilled into us in the geography lesson in school. Most Indians haven’t gone there. There’s something good about that, as the place is incredibly small and delicate. In terms of area, Lakshadweep is one-tenth the size of already tiny Maldives. It’s islands, atolls and reefs are so sensitive that any over construction can destroy the place. We must preserve that. Lakshadweep cannot and should never ever become the mall road of Shimla or Mussoorie. (Actually, neither the mall road of Shimla or Mussoorie should have become what they have, but that’s a separate discussion).
Hence, we can give Maldives some real competition, but we must understand how super-high end tourism works and the delicate nature of the place. The one thing we can learn from Maldives is how they made the archipelago nation about high-end tourism. That’s the only segment the place can sustain. Despite that, concerns are raised about overdevelopment in Maldives. Lakshadweep needs to go even more high end and exclusive. It needs to become the most exclusive destination on the planet. This means a sprinkling of a few ultra-high resorts, managed by the world’s best brands. The construction of these resorts must follow the strictest environmental norms. Next, there needs to be amazing infrastructure, to take people to these resorts. Maldives has seaplanes and ferries from the main airport. We need to do the same.
The local population and their culture needs to be protected, and special permits should be required to visit these towns. Will all this be insanely expensive? unfortunately, but also fortunately, yes. This will protect the place, show Maldives we can do it better than them and generate enough revenue to create jobs and sustainably help the economy. Yes, it does sadly mean that Indians can’t come in droves from their towns and descend for long weekends. There won’t be hundreds of Oyo room hotels and or beach shacks where people sit eating samosas and throwing beer bottles into the ocean. No, please no. Lakshadweep is god’s gift to India. We must respect, protect and cherish it.
One more thing on Indian tourism. Tourism, whether in Lakshadweep or elsewhere, doesn’t have to rely on ads and marketing campaigns. You don’t need it anymore. Just create great experiences, and people will come. Once they come, they make reels and advertise the place for you anyway. Just remember to create a great overall experience. Only the sights is not enough (sunset points or whatever). Experience means traffic, hotels, food, wifi, local transport, shopping, cafes and yes of course, sights. Everything has to be good.
Meanwhile, let’s use this stupidity of these ministers and the global fame they created for Lakshadweep to our advantage. Let’s formulate an ultra-high end tourism plan for the Lakshadweep and show Maldives how to beat them at their own game. Afterall, the best response to trolls, whether ministers or otherwise, is not to troll them back, but massive success.