BusinessThe Maldives political crisis exacerbated by the declaration of a state of emergency will hurt tourism particularly the Chinese market just as the recovery was happening, industry officials said. Tourism represents over 70 per cent of the country's foreign revenue. Officials at SriLankan Airlines in Maldives said so far they have not seen any cancellations but said the Chinese government advisory was an issue. Ghiyas said the last time – more than two years ago - when a state of emergency was declared, it took one to two years for tourism to recover. “One of the worries of tourists (particularly Chinese) is whether the airport would have armed guards, etc,” he added.

Source: Sunday Times February 06, 2018 11:37 UTC