2022 marks 50 years of tourism in the Maldives and here’s a glimpse into how it all started which began in neighbouring Sri Lanka…
A Chance Encounter
It was in Sri Lanka’s commercial city of Colombo that an Italian travel agent named George Corbin met a junior employee at the Maldives Embassy, Ahmed Naseem (he went on to become the Foreign Minister!). Corbin was looking for an idyllic island destination to take Italians to and subsequently, the pair travelled by cargo ship to Male, Maldives in 1971.
The First Tourists
While the Maldives didn’t have an infrastructure at the time for tourism, Corbin was taken up with its beauty and returned the following year with the first tourists; many of them were photographers and journalists. They stayed at three houses in Male and Corbin said he could bring more visitors if they were found a place to stay.
The Birth of Kurumba
Vihamanaafushi, an uninhabited island used for coconut plantation, that was within easy reach of the airstrip was chosen for this new venture. Through the hard work of Maldivians such as Hussain Afeef and M. U. Maniku, the first Maldives resort took shape. Relatively humble in scope, Kurumba Maldives opened on 3rd October 1972 and in a sign of things to come, was fully booked till year’s end!
Tourism Today
The resort in Kurumba still operates, expanded and updated to suit the times, offering visitors a quintessential Maldivian experience. From its small beginnings, the tourism industry here has thrived over the last 50 years with its “one island, one resort” concept to become amongst the top holiday destinations, going from strength to strength.
