What’s Happening in The Maldives?

I sometimes confuse myself about whether this website is a travel agency, a blog, or just a bored guy just spewing shit.  For a moment, let me indulge in the latter, as I just wanted to share a few quick updates.

The agent tax

If you’re not in the industry, this will bore you relentlessly.  But I was truly amused to see the Maldives decide to tax foreign travel agents for selling its resorts.  The law was signed at the end of August and came into force on 1 October, which gave as much notice as a dentist appointment.  Nobody could get a clear answer on how it actually worked; then, two days after it took effect, the tourism minister announced it was being postponed to April.  Probably.

Making the people who sell your tourism industry, which you entirely depend upon, earn less from selling it is one of the most stupid things I’ve ever heard of.  “Show me the incentive and I’ll show you the outcome,” as the saying goes.  I’m not here to say how dare they take money off me.  Fine.  But it completely ignores the power of incentives.  Good ol’ Tim Harford wrote about this in the FT under “The law of unintended consequences strikes again”.

We all like to think we’ll do the right thing, but history, recent and distant, shows people follow incentives.  Tim’s examples: Malaysia subsidised cooking oil just as Europe started paying good money for used cooking oil to make aviation fuel.  So people bought cheap fresh oil, fried precisely nothing in it, and sold it on as “used”.  Malaysia now collects more used cooking oil per person than anywhere on earth.  Colonial Hanoi paid a bounty for rat tails, so people clipped the tails and released the rats to breed more.  If the Maldives goes ahead with this, I’ll still be selling it, but plenty won’t, and they’ll cripple the industry they depend on.

Bulgari Maldives

My list of best openings for 2027 keeps growing, but this one is still right at the top.  Easter opening ain’t gonna happen; the hope now is later in the year.  It at least sounds very, very likely to open next year.

Velaa

Velaa closes every year for maintenance and upgrades, and this year they’ve rebuilt the Athiri area, which I’ve always been the opposite of a fan of.  An enemy?  Maybe.  We’re there in a few months to see if they’ve won me over.  It’s all part of a wider run of significant upgrades.

Elsewhere

Aman has announced the name of its Maldives resort: Amanolu. That this is newsworthy enough for me to mention says I’ve fallen for the PR.  Don’t hold your breath, though: it’s due in 2028.  So make that 2030.

Still very little news from Mandarin Oriental or Rosewood, and I still cannot wait to find out whether Le K2 actually happens or remains vaporware.