The Maldives is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world. With gorgeous sea beaches, resorts and mind-blowing nature, every year, a lot of tourists across the world go to the Maldives to spend their vacation.
But the number of Bangladeshis going to the Maldives is still quite low compared to other countries. As a fellow South Asian country and a member of SAARC, Maldives could be among the countries on the top of the bucket list of Bangladeshi tourists, as the number of local tourists going abroad is increasing every year. But the island nation is far behind India, Nepal, even Vutan, in terms of preference. Why?
The reason behind this can be narrowed down to one simple fact - the Maldives is costly, considering Bangladeshi standards.
For the Bangladeshi middle class, Nepal, India and Malaysia are more convenient options just because of the fact that they are way less costly, even compared to Bangladesh.
For the Maldives, this is simply not applicable. It costs about Tk 40,000-50,000, which largely depends on the airline you are going to avail.
The plane fare is really high for the Bangladeshi middle class who can easily spend way less than both way plane fares in a total and comprehensive tour to India, Nepal, Bhutan and even Malaysia.
A whole tour package for the bare minimum of three days in the Maldives would cost more than 1 lacs in Bangladeshi taka for a tourist. This exponentially high cost compared to the other South Asian countries is the chief reason why many people from Bangladesh cannot afford to go there.
Another reason is the lack of varied geography. Even among the most wealthy peoples of Bangladesh, Maldives is only a popular tourist destination for newlywed couples and people who have an affinity to sea beaches.
The Island nation is magnificently beautiful but lacks a varied range of architecture and diversity when compared to the likes of India and Malaysia. Hence, it just attracts tourists of a specific type, albeit from the ultra wealthy class.
Although in recent years, there has been a surge of Bangladeshi remittance earners in the Maldives, both as blue and white-collar workers, and the number of Maldivian students pursuing their higher education in Bangladesh is ever on the rise. A lot of Bangladeshis are working in the famed and luxurious resorts of Maldives.
This Bangladeshi presence in the country is playing an important role in increasing the number of Bangladeshi tourists there, although by a small amount.
The number of Bangladeshis in the small island nation varied between 145,000 and 230,000 across time, but most of them are wage earners rather than tourists.
Since there is no issue regarding visas for Bangladeshis touring the Maldives, if the government can make any agreement with the country deemed as a tourist heaven, Bangladesh tourists could also add the island country to their bucket list.
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