TourismGossip

Sources within the tourism industry reports the Maldives Tourism Development Corporation has decided to compensate two of its partner tour operators, Thomas Cook and Hotelplan with a resort island to each. The tour operators seem to have demanded million dollar compensation for issues relating to Herathera Island not being completed on time.

Thomas Cook organized the first group of arrivals to the newly built resort island and had to rebook to other islands as it was not fully completed to serve the tourists. I was among those who welcomed the tourists after they rebooked to other islands. We gave extra attention and care to those guests as if it was our own mishandling. Believe it or not, they all had a wonderful stay and at some points they expressed that they were lucky to have it happened.

The tour operator obviously deserves a reasonable compensation due to the island not being available for service on time, causing them to seek last-minute deals which would have incurred more expense as they had to operate beyond their regular hotels. But, who would think they will be given a resort instead? Not me, but now it seems I have to.

Businesses come with risks. But when it comes to Thomas Cook and Hotelplan they seem to mean it as ‘luck’ while MTDC remains blind for their profitability and the commitment for their shareholders. We all know none of these tour operators are selling Maldives for the sake of doing a favour. If tourists demand for Maldives and if tour operators seek profit, business is where they meet. The entire industry should not rely on oligopolists.

An island in the Maldives to offer as compensation is too far from reality and it doesn’t fit into the picture. Most of all why can’t the tour operators estimate the financial value of loss and demand cash? And why do the chairman and his top cronies still prefer old barter system? Does this sense a real compensation or is something fishy?

Months back I heard the chairman announced that Herathera project was his biggest charity effort. Does his charity seem ending up into his own pocket? How muc would be the Return on Investment? Is this the ‘new model’ introduced by MTDC?

Let me start it from a few years back. Dhiraagu was the only Telecommunications Company in Maldives who at that time had reached its maturity thought long-term monopolization of the entire industry across the country. Poor locals had no choice except take part in the growing trend. I bought a Prepaid and same did my friends. Every time I recharged they used to send an SMS telling the amount credited and the expiry for the in-coming calls. The validity kept on adding up and I reached to 2012, one of my friends was around 2016 as I remember and it was like a competition. I kept on buying more recharge cards and all of a sudden I made a shocking discovery. Famous telecom company Dhiraagu eliminated 5 years of active in-coming from my number, reducing it to 2007 and so did to my friends. When I checked with the Customer Service, they confirmed it was done to all Dhiraagu Prepaid customers.

I didnt intend to use it till 2012 without a recharge. I had no plan to quite Dhiraagu either. But it was a shock of the out standing customer service, loyalty and ethical values of the company, and the image of cause.

They curbed a part of what the customer had paid for over many years. I felt ‘Dhiraagu was not trust worthy’. They did it without asking the customer and never informed it. I felt ‘they cheated the customer’. I asked the Customer Service to provide the same duration of validity I had before or a reasonable refund and ended up with bare hand. I felt ‘customer is not important for Dhiraagu’.

Make a promise, sell the product and seize it! Sell a car and get the four wheels back the next day. Business sounds good with fewer costs, all thanks to the management.

The Customer Service staff also explained that company reserves the right to change the terms of service without prior notice, meaning the customer had no right to complain regarding the issue. But it did sound funny to me, simply because;

* They had all sorts of right and customer had none.

* When you finish your call, they could decide how much to charge, even if its a million dollar per minute for a local call, as per the term explained by Dhiraagu Customer Service.

* Isn’t it playing fool with the customer?

We never had a Consumer Rights Protection Authority in Maldives, but it is likely that we do have commerce laws or regulations in place. The relevant government authorities must check those terms and penalize the companies who go above the law or even terrify customers with such explanations.

Today Tourism Gossip is proud to present a newspaper article on one of the most prominent tourism leaders in the country. Mr.Nabeel joined to the industry in 1996 and worked at different levels for the past 11 years.

Once I was leading a travel business and I came to contact him while he was at Soneva Resorts. He was the Marketing Coordinator if I am not mistaken, and was highly skilled even at that time.

His enthusiasm and extensive knowledge in the field lifted him in the industry and presently he is the Marketing Manager at Huvafen Fushi (the seed of Per Aquum even though it’s their second resort).

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