SINGAPORE, 10 January 2024: An Asia-wide travel attractions curator, Thrillophilia, says it is offering a full refund to its Indian customers if they wish to cancel their trips to Maldives.
In a statement posted on its website, the India-headquartered Thrillophilia acknowledges its customers may wish to cancel their upcoming Maldives trips due to the recent Maldives controversy that created a strong backlash of comments from Indians.
“In response to these requests, the organisation has taken a proactive approach to assure its customers by announcing a 100% refund for all Maldives tours booked for the upcoming months,” the management posted on its website statement.
Thrillophilia promotes and sells travel experiences and attractions across 15 Asian countries, including the Maldives. The latter is a popular destination for its Indian clientele. Overhaul Thrillophilia clocks around 2 million monthly visits to its booking website.
It was responding to recent news first reported by the news channel Associated Press that confirmed the Maldives had suspended three deputy ministers for disparaging India’s beaches in social media comments.
Apparently, the disgraced deputy ministers had responded to India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s online posts promoting beaches in a part of India similar to the tourism-dependent Maldives.
It prompted a row over which country has the superior sandy beaches after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi shared an image of himself last week walking along a beach in the Lakshadweep archipelago, India’s smallest union territory made up of 36 islands off the Arabian Sea Coast of Kerala State.
Indians made up the largest number of tourists visiting the Maldives in 2023. Many Indian celebrities visit the Maldives on vacations and honeymoons, and some of them took to social media to condemn the comments of three deputy ministers.
“The government of Maldives is aware of derogatory remarks on social media platforms against foreign leaders and high-ranking individuals. These opinions are personal and do not represent the views of the government of Maldives,” the Maldives Foreign Ministry said in a statement reported by AP.
