Even as the row between India and Maldives rages on, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Lakshadweep that sparked it off seems to be paying dividends. Travel aggregators report a spike of nearly 3,000 per cent over the weekend for travel to the islands.
“Our government’s call to explore hidden gems for travel has sparked a tremendous wave of interest,” said online travel portal ixigo's CEO & co-founder Aloke Bajpai, and added that this highlighted the “hidden potential within our own borders.”
According to ixigo, search for travel to Lakshadweep went up 2,900 per cent over the past three-four days. Other websites and travel booking agents have also reported a similar phenomenal increase in interest, even as many claimed they were cancelling their trips to Maldives.
It was late last week that PM Modi visited Lakshadweep and posted some stunning photos of his stroll on its pristine beaches. Modi had tweeted, calling on citizens to visit the Union territory, a group of 36 islands in the Arabian Sea. The call was seen as a move by India to draw tourism away from the nearby Maldives, which was seen to be slowly moving away from its earlier diplomatic stance of being well within India’s sphere of influence.
The reaction by three Maldivian ministers soon led to a full-blown diplomatic row, with the Maldives ambassador being summoned by MEA on Monday.
While the spurt in travel searches and the move to make Lakshadweep a tourism hub may sound smart, the reality is that any thoughts of challenging Maldives will take years — Lakshadweep barely has any five-star resorts, the existing one limited to the island of Bangaram. That island is also the only one where alcohol is permitted since the islands follow an insular way of life.
Travel options themselves are scarce, with one flight daily and that too a turbo propeller Alliance Air flight from Kochi, and no connection from the major metros. The other option is by ship, with three ships plying between Lakshadweep and Kochi.
