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CHAPTER FOUR: THE MALDIVES CASE 4.1 Geography and climate The Republic of Maldives consists of 1196 coral islands, spread over approximately 90,000 square kilometres in the Indian Ocean, 500 km south-west of the southern tip of India (Bell, 2004). The islands are formed into 26 natural atolls, but for administrative purposes have been grouped into 20 atolls by the Maldives’ government (Lutfy, 1995). A total of 196 islands are inhabited, of which 89 have been developed as tourist resorts while the rest are used for agriculture and other economic purposes (MTCA, 2007a). The islands are small and low-lying with an average area of only one to two square kilometres and elevations of a mere 1 to 1.8 metres above sea level. There are no hills or rivers, but small lakes and marshes can be found in a few islands (Maniku, 1983). The Maldives experiences a warm and humid tropical climate with temperatures ranging between 23˚ and 31˚ C throughout the year. The high humidity is balanced by constant sea breezes. Two seasons dominate the weather: the dry north-east monsoon and the rainy south-west monsoon. The north-east monsoon extends from December to March, giving clear skies, sunshine and calm seas. The south-west monsoon, which runs from April to November, brings heavy rain, strong winds and rough seas. The average annual rainfall is 1927 millimetres. Since the Maldives is situated on the equator, it rarely gets affected by severe storms and major cyclones (www.meteorology.gov.mv; Maniku, 1996). 4.2 People, history, culture The earliest settlers of the Maldives are believed to be from Sri Lanka and southern India. Indo-European speakers, or ‘Aryans’, followed them from the Indus Valley (Lutfy, 1995). Over the centuries, the islands have been visited and their development influenced by sailors from East Africa, the Middle East and South-East Asian countries (www.presidencymaldives.gov.mv). Today, the Maldivian ethnic identity is a blend of these cultures, made distinct by religion and language. The Portuguese subjugated the Maldives in 1558 and ruled the islands for 15 years before being driven away by the warrior-patriot Muhammad Thakurufar Al-Azam. The Maldives has been governed as an independent state for most of its history, although it 64
was a British protectorate from 1887 until 1965. The Maldives became a republic and assumed its present name in 1968, three years after independence from Britain (Maumoon, 2002). Since 1978 President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom has been ruling the country. Politically, the Maldives is currently undergoing fundamental constitutional changes. These have led to the country becoming a multi-party democracy in 2008 (BBC, 2008). Islam is the official religion of the Maldives. However, archaeological evidence suggests the existence of Hinduism and Buddhism before the country embraced Islam in AD 1153 (Mohamed, 2002). The official and common language of the Maldivians is Dhivehi, which has its roots in Sanskrit and Sinhalese, both spoken in Sri Lanka (Maumoon, 2002). The Maldivian script known as thaana is written from right to left. English is used widely in commerce and as the medium of instruction in schools. The culture of the Maldives has developed over the years in accord with the island environment. This is reflected in the construction of boats, house design, food and cooking, rituals, music, dance and social practices (Maumoon, 2002). However, modern developments have brought dramatic changes to all spheres of life. In Maumoon’s (2000) words, the country now is “… at a crossroads where the people have to maintain a delicate balance between their own unique cultural practices and a mass global culture (p. 22).” 4.2.1 Population The Maldives has a population of 298,968 (in 2006) spread among 196 islands. Strong disparities are evident in the population distribution between the islands: Male’, the capital island, has a population of 102,377, or nearly one-third of the total population, whereas there are 142 islands with fewer than 1000 inhabitants and 76 islands with fewer than 500 persons (MPND, 2007a). Only three islands have a population greater than 5000 (Shareef, 2007). Hence, most of the inhabited islands are sparsely populated while a small number of islands are heavily congested. The growth of Male’ is a result of migration from the other islands as people seek better job and educational opportunities, and an improved quality of life. However, this migration has resulted in inequalities – both economic and social – between Male’ and the other atolls (Yahya, Parameswaran & Sebastian, 2005). Youth unemployment, increasing crime rate, social disharmony and drug abuse are all outcomes of the highly congested living conditions prevalent in Male’ and some other islands (Latheef & Gupta, 2007). 65
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The Role of Local Food in Maldives
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CHAPTER FIVE: THE CURRENT ROLE OF F
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Figure 5.26 Buffet dinner .........
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Attestation of authorship “I here
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Abstract In the fiercely competitiv
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1.1 Background to the study CHAPTER
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attractiveness and promoting sustai
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Figure 1. 1 Map of the Republic of
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CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW The
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and nationalities are broadened (Sh
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focus on creating “meaningful tou
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Page 25 and 26: waiting list for future Guggenheim
Page 27 and 28: Natural and cultural attractions ar
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Page 31 and 32: Although the above inherent charact
Page 33 and 34: ituals and leisure (Tannahill, 2002
Page 35 and 36: and participation in the experience
Page 37 and 38: Cultural exploration is an integral
Page 39 and 40: 2002). As Jones and Jenkins (2002)
Page 41 and 42: Figure 2. 2 Isle of Arran food trai
Page 43 and 44: globalisation strong local food ide
Page 45 and 46: vegetarian pizza outlets are run by
Page 47 and 48: tradition are made sustainable in t
Page 49 and 50: tourism” (p. 115). As their examp
Page 51 and 52: Slow Food Award in 2000 which recog
Page 53 and 54: eing researched. Although the small
Page 55 and 56: On the other hand, the focus of the
Page 57 and 58: A disadvantage of case sstudies is
Page 59 and 60: 1. data triangulation: uses a range
Page 61 and 62: A number of international organisat
Page 63 and 64: Content analysis has been a valuabl
Page 65 and 66: 3.6.2 Surveys “A survey is a good
Page 67 and 68: Table 3. 2 Advantages vantages and
Page 69 and 70: 3.7 Data validity and reliability I
Page 71 and 72: 3.8 Survey characteristics Out of t
Page 73: were doing doctoral research that w
Page 77 and 78: Figure 4. 2 Population growth rate
Page 79 and 80: 4.3 Economy The Republic of Maldive
Page 81 and 82: 4.4 Agriculture Agriculture plays o
Page 83 and 84: population was badly affected by th
Page 85 and 86: enefits of tourism among all the at
Page 87 and 88: As tourism became established in th
Page 89 and 90: prospect repeatedly proclaimed by e
Page 91 and 92: Table 4. 1 Maldives tourist arrival
Page 93 and 94: Figure 4. 8 Market share of top ten
Page 95 and 96: provided a slow burning barbecue to
Page 97 and 98: Figure 4. 13 Rukuraa and raabadhi S
Page 99 and 100: CHAPTER FIVE: THE CURRENT ROLE OF F
Page 101 and 102: possible” (Sarantakos, 1998, p. 2
Page 103 and 104: Table 5. 3 Frequency of images in p
Page 105 and 106: (Figure 5.3). As Figure 5.4 illustr
Page 107 and 108: Figure 5. 6 Dining experience Sourc
Page 109 and 110: Figure 5. 9 Website with no informa
Page 111 and 112: The description indicates that food
Page 113 and 114: Figure 5. 11 Screw pine Source: Mal
Page 115 and 116: Figure 5. 14 Local ‘tea’ ceremo
Page 117 and 118: Hence, the kind of analysis needed
Page 119 and 120: Figure 5. 18 Barbecue menus Source:
Page 121 and 122: Figure 5. 19 Seafood display Source
Page 123 and 124: Figure 5. 22 Unloading fish to the
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chefs in our booming tourist indust
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Figure 5. 25 Activities featured as
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Table 5. 5 Importance of using loca
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CHAPTER SIX: DEVELOPING LINKS BETWE
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Table 6. 3 Number of respondents th
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ight quality of products from these
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experts, “It is of great potentia
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have failed to utilise”. One of t
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Figure 6. 1 Number of local and for
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local cuisine. This warning echoes
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• Since tourism operators and exp
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to authentic local foods. In additi
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products. This would pave the way f
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• Promote Maldives as an environm
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Figure 6. 4 Garudhiya bai meal Sour
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Figure 6. 7 Canned curries, garudhi
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Figure 6. 11 Screw pine fruit and n
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Figure 6. 14 Short eats Source: Mal
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Figure 6. 16 Smooth loofah, Thoraa
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Figure 6. 19 Malaafaiy Source: Leis
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Figure 6. 21 Drinks made with local
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CHAPTER SEVEN: CONCLUSIONS In an in
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list ‘local’ food items were of
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apparent from tourism marketing mat
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operator” (Omidi, 2009b). Those r
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Bibliography ADB. (2005). Country s
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Buhalis, D. (2001). The tourism phe
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Everett, S., & Aitchison, C. (2008)
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Heath, E., & Wall, G. (1992). Marke
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Lutfy, M. I. (1995). Dhivehiraajjeg
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MTCA. (2007b). Tourism Yearbook. Ma
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Ravenscroft, N., & Westering, J. V.
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Sheehan, K. (2001). E-mail survey r
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Veal, A. J. (1997). Research method
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Appendix 1 - Operators’ Questionn
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Appendix 3 - Participant Informatio
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Appendix 4 - Ethics Approval 197
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Committee. Until full approval has
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