Threat to Maldives tourism over ‘spa ban’
Tuesday, 03 January 2012
Luxury island resorts in the Maldives are contesting a ban on their exclusive spas and health centres after they were shut down by the government.Saturday saw the president of the Maldives issue a decree to shut the spas, after Islamic opposition parties claimed they were a front for prostitution.
President Mohamed Nasheed's office issued a statement saying: 'The government has decided to close massage parlours and spas in the Maldives, following an opposition-led religious protest last week calling for their closure'.
However Sim Ibrahim, head of Maldives Association of Tourism Industry, stated the decision threatens tourism which is vital to the national economy.
He said he hoped the ban would be overturned.
The tourism industry filed two cases in the local civil courts on Monday asking the judiciary to reverse the ban, claimed MATI lawyer Azima Shukoor.
More than 333,000 Sunni Muslims live in the Maldives and the country has come under increasing pressure from a minority of religious fundamentalists whose influence is growing.
Importing alcohol is already prohibited to a severe extent in the Maldives, and Islamists are now also calling for a complete ban on alcohol and the sale of pork.
