Essay
Maldives is the country widely famous all over the world for its premium class resorts and unique tourist potential. To understand, why exactly tourism became an essential branch of industry for this country, we should take into consideration that, obviously, Maldives do not have much of the natural resources to extract, process, then export abroad and get profit. And, unlike Japan, also poor on natural resources, that had found the successful solution of the problem through the encouraging development of the advanced technologies; Maldives are only making first steps to the competitive higher education and democracy at all. Pretty much everything the country possesses is serene beaches and clear blue water that attract more than 1 million tourists per year, which makes tourism one of the most important sources of income in the country (Rowntree et al., 592). However, tourists mostly see only the luxurious facade of the country and seldom leave hospitable and comfortable islands-hotels to be aware of the reality that natives deal with.
On one hand for the poor countries like Maldives tourism is a real way to bring some money to the budget. But without a deep understanding of the complex situation, due attention, and wise governance over the branch it is hard to expect its sustainable development.
On the other hand, tourism is also vulnerable to any climate, social, political changes and is the first branch to suffer from any crisis at all. As tourism is an inevitable source of filling state budget it sounds only logical to minimize risks and avoid destabilization of the branch as much as possible. It also includes creating safe space for multinational and multicultural tourist flows like a fair judicial system based on standards of international law (“Maldives: Waving or Drowning?”, 98).
The most important issue that faces tourist industry in the Maldives is ecology. If garbage pollution will not fatally destabilize tourism, climate changes can do the job. Although even here we find positive example of Netherlands and some island countries protecting its cities from flooding by constructing seawalls, dams, dikes etc. (Arnold et al., 37).
Nevertheless, it is better not to put tourism in the position where it signalizes its destabilization to the government when there is an opportunity to prevent crucial consequences and create a better life for both locals and tourists.
Works Cited
Arnold, Geo et al. Water Management in the Netherlands. Haag: Centre for Water management (Rijkswaterstaat), 2011. Print.
“Maldives: Waving or Drowning?” The Economist 23 December 2006: 97-99. Print.
Rowntree, Lester et al. Diversity Amid Globalization: World Regions, Environment, Development. Pearson, 2014. Print.
