Oman Air to come back to the Maldives

Oman Air to come back to the Maldives

Oman Air will resume its service between Muscat and Malé in the Maldives.

Flights will recommence for the winter season from October 28th and will be operated by the new Boeing 737 aircraft.

Oman Air flights from Muscat to Maldives will operate on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday and the flight from Maldives to Muscat will operate on Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

The Maldives is a beautiful chain of 26 ring atolls, made up of more than 1,000 coral islands, located only three and a half hours away from Oman.

Well known for its beaches, blue lagoons and extensive reefs, the Maldives is an incredibly popular tourist destination with an increasing number of international visitors arriving year on year.

Abdulaziz Al Raisi, chief executive of Oman Air, said: “We are delighted to be resuming our Maldives route and look forward to welcoming our valued Oman Air guests on board our latest Boeing 737 aircraft.

“We thoroughly encourage our friends from Europe and the rest of our network, flying to the Maldives to stop over and explore Oman en route.

“Our new Maldives service offers holidaymakers the perfect opportunity to explore Muscat, the metropolitan capital of Oman before escaping to the beautiful shores of the Maldives.”

The relaunch of the Maldives service comes at an exciting time, as Oman Air recently started their flights to Istanbul in June with operations scheduled to Casablanca in July and Moscow in October.

Gili Lankanfushi uncovers 2018 well-being program      

Chloe Brotheridge will be among the world leading wellness experts visiting Gili Lankanfushi in 2018

Luxury Maldivian Eco-resort, Gili Lankanfushi, is debuting a revolutionary new wellness programme for 2018.

Four world-leading international wellness practitioners, working in areas as diverse as transformational breath-work, sound therapy, and hypnotherapy, will be leading island residencies throughout the year.

The will offer treatments and workshops for guests, and passing on their skills to the team at the island’s Meera Spa.

The international wellness residency programme will kick off in March with bestselling author, Ayurveda enthusiast, cook, and well-being entrepreneur Jasmine Hemsley visiting Gili Lankanfushi from March 12th-19th.

Hemsley will be leading immersive and soothing sound bath sessions, helping guests to switch off their minds, open their hearts and nurture their spirits with waves of therapeutic crystal tones to balance the chakras. 


April 10th-18th will see the arrival of international author, breath coach and founder of Breathing Tree, Rebecca Dennis.

Dennis trained in the cutting edge breath technique transformational breath, used to harness the power of conscious breathing to unblock emotions and release tension, and specialises in treating issues such as stress, anxiety, addiction and sleep problems. 

Meditation guide, inspirational speaker, writer and intuitive mentor Jody Shield will be taking over the island from August 22nd-29th.

Shield is fast becoming a household name amongst London’s high-fliers as the go-to healer to solve all manner of modern woes, supporting people to process the past, be present and build a life they love.

The final international wellness residency of the year will be hypnotherapist, anxiety expert and bestselling author Chloe Brotheridge.

She will be leading hypnotherapy workshops on the island for guests from November 10th-17th, to help with issues including anxiety, confidence and sleep problems.

 

UAE superyacht builder Gulf Craft says Maldives offers rich rewards

The UAE luxury boat builder Gulf Craft said today the Maldives offers a major opportunity for the superyacht sector.

And the chief executive of the creator of such dreamboats as the 155-foot Majesty 155 believes the market for large luxury vessels is likely to grow in the Maldives, where Gulf Craft already builds boats and provides the lion’s share of leisure cruisers.

"We see an emerging demand for bigger boats – over 45 feet in length – across the country, and we are investing in our local operations, in terms of both infrastructure and skill-set, to support this growing demand for larger and more luxurious leisure craft," said Erwin Bamps.

Maldivian tour operators are set to benefit from a growing demand from affluent millennial vacationers for luxury cruising experiences, thanks to the increased availability of domestically produced leisure craft, he said.

"The Maldives is host to a booming high-end millennial tourist demographic that is constantly looking for new and exciting ways to spend time on the islands, and offering guests the opportunity to enjoy the country’s vast seascapes from the comfort of a luxury yacht would be the perfect way to help visitors create lasting memories," said Mr Bamps.

Until now, most boats in the Maldives have been used to transport people from one part of the Indian Ocean nation to another, however, Mr Bamps said this trend is rapidly changing, with private operators looking to introduce luxury cruising to enhance the holidaymaking experience for visitors.

For example, the Maldives-based chartersmaldives.com operates the 90ft Anastasia luxury cruiser for guests wishing to experience the atoll’s beauty from the sea.

And with figures from the World Travel and Tourism Council showing that travel and tourism contributes to more than half (52 per cent) of Maldives’ overall GDP, Mr Bamps said the prospect of enabling visitors to explore the exotic coastlines from the water will be of particular interest to the country’s thriving hospitality sector, as the industry continuously strives to expand its experiential offering.

Gulf Craft has been a major contributor of Maldives’ transport infrastructure, and accounts for more than 80 per cent of the country’s boats, most of which consist of the builder’s Touring passenger vessels. It has provided the Maldives with more than 1,000 boats during its 15 years of operations in the country.

In addition to its locally-based manufacturing facility, the company also operates a dedicated marine services centre, ensuring around-the-clock access to support.

Gulf Craft also recently announced a partnership with Ooredoo for the deployment of the GPS-based tracking solution, Ooredoo Locate, on all of its passenger boats. The technology enables owners to keep track of a craft’s location and status via a dedicated mobile app or Web-based portal.

Founded in the UAE in 1982, Gulf Craft offers a wide variety of premium craft, ranging from 27 ft to 155 ft in length.

Book a mammoth Maldivian suite with your own private 24-hour bar

Luxury Maldivian resort OZEN by Atmosphere at Maadhoo, has opened the doors to a 430sqm ‘Over-Water Suite’, which includes an exclusive overwater bar, serviced 24 hours a day!

Positioned at the tip of the pier - and just a stone’s throw from the resort’s underwater restaurant M6m - the OZEN Water Suite offers panoramic views of the expansive turquoise lagoon all-around and can comfortably accommodate 8 people (4 adults + 4 children, or 6 adults + 2 children + maid/nanny).

The Overwater Suite includes three bedrooms, two of which are king sized doubles and one twin bed room. Additionally, there is a fully equipped personal gym, a maid/nannies room with separate access, a kitchenette, ensuite bathrooms, spacious outdoor dining pavilion, a private 35sqm pool and even a tranquil, private sand bank!

Indulgent special touches are in abundance throughout the suite, with fibre-optic mood lighting and sections of glass flooring in the bedrooms revealing the underwater world below and infusing a natural aesthetic. A standalone private bar is also part of the Suite’s complex, which is fully staffed and stocked with an array of beverages, including top shelf wines and champagne.

Taking the level of service one step further, guests will also have their own private butler service throughout their stay here and can relax without the worry of unexpected bills thanks to the Atmosphere Indulgence Plan, which covers dining at any of the resort’s five diverse restaurants, all beverages and non-motorised water sports.

The latest and most presidential addition to OZEN by Atmosphere, which opened in July 2016, the OZEN Water Suite will accompany the existing 89 luxurious stand-alone villas; 41 beach-front ‘Earth’ villas line the coastline of the main island, whilst an additional 48 over-water ‘Wind’ villas sit directly over the lagoon, many of them with their very own Pools. Other recent notable additions include Sub-zen, the resort’s semi-submersible submarine, available for excursions and private hire.

Dream Hotel Group Signs Two Resort Hotels In The Maldives

Renowned hotel brand and management company Dream Hotel Group signed two hotels in the Maldives with local entrepreneur Mohamed Manik and Alpha Kinam Holdings to develop The Chatwal Maaga Maldives and Dream Gasveli Maldives. Set to open in 2019 and 2020 respectively, the new locations triple the group's presence in Asia and mark a pivotal step in Dream Hotel Group's global expansion strategy.

"Last year, we signed more new hotels and resorts than ever before," said Dream Hotel Group CEO Jay Stein. "I'm thrilled to announce another equally strong year of growth momentum with the signing of The Chatwal Maaga and Dream Gasveli in the Maldives, one of the strongest luxury leisure resort markets in the world."

Nestled in picturesque North Ari Atoll, The Chatwal Maaga Maldives will feature 80 ultra-luxury villas, six private beach villas and two presidential villas, as well as three world-class culinary experiences bringing fine dining and casual barefoot elegance to the lagoon's edge. The Chatwal Maaga Maldives will be the second location to debut in The Chatwal collection of luxury hotels.

Dream Gasveli Maldives will feature 500 villas, eight experiential dining and nightlife venues, including the brand's signature Dream Beach Club, a 20,000-square-foot wellness spa and a dozen designer brand retail outlets for exclusive duty-free shopping on site. Spanning across three islands in Meemu Atoll, Dream Gasveli will be the largest fully-integrated resort ever developed in the Indian Ocean.

"I've been in the resort and hotel business for over 30 years in the Maldives," said Mohamed Manik, Chairman of Alpha Kinam Holdings. "I am pleased to partner with Dream Hotel Group in bringing its leading edge lifestyle brands to the Maldives and look forward to taking our luxury market experiences one step beyond here with many more projects in the future."

"I have known Mohamed Manik for a number of years and there is no better partner we'd rather work with to bring The Chatwal and Dream brands of hospitality into the Maldives, delivering on the standards of excellence we hold so high." said Kevin Wallace, Managing Director, Asia Pacific, Dream Hotel Group.

Late last year, Dream Hotel Group announced the signing of its first hotel in Vietnam with locally owned Beegreen Group to develop Dream Oceanami Villas & Spa in Long Hai, Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province, the country's top tourist destination. Set to open in June 2017, Dream Oceanami Villas & Spa will be the first of four new resort hotels developed by Beegreen Group and managed by Dream Hotel Group in Vietnam over the next two years. Future locations include Vung Tau City, Hoi An, Ho Tram and Con Dao.

Dream Hotel Group plans to sign more than 150 hotels and resorts worldwide across all its brands – Dream, Time, The Chatwal and Unscripted – over the next four years, continuing to solidify its burgeoning portfolio worldwide.

"This will be a milestone year for us as we welcome an unprecedented number of new hotels into our ever-growing family of brands across the globe," added Stein.

‘Luxury in today’s world means rarity’

Combining über luxury with sustainability, Soneva has emerged as one of the leaders in the global luxury travel space.


What is the overall philosophy of the brand Soneva?

We are a family business managed by me and my wife Eva. We focus on the “One Owner, One Operator, One Philosophy, One Brand” strategy. We are not interested on the asset light strategy. The asset light model doesn’t fit with the luxury brands. Over time this will help us to standout. Our philosophy is slow life. In this we are combining luxury, wellness and sustainability. We offer our guests luxury by minimising the impact on the planet. The acronym for Slow life is Sustainable-Local-Organic-Wellness, Learning-Inspiring-Fun-Experiences. The luxury for 21st century travellers is rarity; people are looking out for experiences which are rare. We are providing such unique experiences. We are also combining luxury with wellbeing.

What are your future plans for the Soneva brand?

We introduced luxury travel to Maldives in 1995 with the launch of our first property Soneva Fushi. Now we are 20 years old. In the last three four years we are making quite a lot of upgrades to the existing properties. We want to continuously evolve, so our immediate plan is to keep upgrading our properties.

Apart from this, we want to do a bit more in the Maldives along with our existing infrastructure. We are launching the Soneva Jani on October 28, 2016. This property is situated on a lagoon and it contains six islands. The total area of this property is about four to five kms. We would like to do two more concepts in the Maldives which will be within close proximity to Soneva Fushi. These concepts will not cannibalise on Soneva Fushi or Soneva Jani. At the moment we wouldn’t like to disclose the concept. They will be complementary and not competitive to our existing properties in Maldives. They will be high end products. Soneva in Aqua is a very successful brand as of now. We also want to increase the number of super luxury yachts in other locations.

We are also looking at other locations like Oman, Bali, Japan, Ibiza, and London in future to setup properties. We have a strong leisure component in these cities and our major focus is in the leisure segment.

Who are your investors?

We have roped in a private equity firm with a stake in our company from the Shanghai Government; they have created a private equity firm with 10 of the state owned enterprises. They will want to exit their shares in the next five to six years. Our agreement with them is more investments in our existing assets.

Thailand is aggressively pitching for luxury tourism in India, Do you see a growth from India in your Thailand property?

Soneva Kiri Resort comprises 35 vast pool villas on beach level, hillsides or cliff tops, all overlooking the Gulf of Thailand. The highlights of this property include the open-air Cinema Paradiso, a home-made chocolate and ice cream parlor, high-tech Observatory, manta ray shaped children’s Den and the spectacular Treetop Dining Pod. Travelers from India are doubling every year to all our properties, including the Soneva Kiri. The property is visited by a lot of Indian travelers.

Do you see any opportunity to open up a resort in India?

At the moment we are not looking to open up properties in India. There are still a lot of opportunities in the Maldives. Maldives is much less restrictive, in terms of the visa facilitation. Also, there are a lot of international flights from all the major cities into Maldives. So as of now our priority market will remain the Maldives.

Which are the segments that you are looking at? Do you cater to the MICE as well?

Families are our major segment as we have the big residences. Now we have built the Den which is entertainment for the children. Soneva as a brand is very strong in the family market. Apart from this we cater to honeymooners and the weddings segment. We are witnessing a trend where we get multi generational groups where we see the grand children coming with grandparents. We also cater to the MICE segment, but very small groups. We have the eight bedroom villas which can cater to such groups. We also have small conference facilities.

The Sun Siyam Iru Fushi Claims Prestigious Awards at World Luxury Hotel Awards 2016

The Sun SIyam Iru Fushi has established themselves as one of the best in the industry not only in the Maldives but on a global scale as well by taking home two of the most prestigious awards at the World Luxury Hotel Awards Gala Ceremony, held at St Regis Hotel, Qatar on 29th October 2016.

The resort claimed the Global Winner Leading Luxury Beach Resort and Regional Winner Leading Luxury Spa Hotel at the World Luxury Hotel Awards Gala Event.

Recognized as amongst the world’s most prestigious and exclusive awards for the hospitality industry, the World Luxury Hotel Awards is a global organization that provides recognition to luxury hotels for their world class facilities and service excellence provided to guests. The organization aims to encourage and raise service standards within the luxury hotel industry. Among over 1,000 hotels nominated in 145 countries, The Sun SIyam Iru Fushi won the votes of international tour operators, travel agents and hotel guests.

Upon receiving the coveted trophy for the two categories, an elated Evgenia Boyankova, Group Director Business Development of Sun Siyam Resorts, said "If it weren't for the sheer passion of my colleagues to delight each and every one of our guests, we wouldn't have gone this far". She added: "Together, we've made the Maldives proud".

“I dedicate these awards to our staff members who work tirelessly to ensure the well-being of our guests and provide unique home-away-from-home experiences. These awards inspire us to do more and work even harder in delivering award-winning hospitality and world-class experiences for our guests", commented Abdulla Thamheed, General Manager at The Sun SIyam Iru Fushi.

Other recent awards for The Sun SIyam Iru Fushi include Indian Ocean’s Best Resort Spa and Maldives’s Best Resort Spa by the World Spa Awards 2016. Indian Ocean's Leading Family Resort and Maldives Leading Family Resort by the World Travel Awards 2016. Flavours Restaurant was also awarded the Global Winner for Best French Cuisine & Best Wine Selection at the World Luxury Restaurant Awards 2016. The resort’s Spa was also awarded as the Best Luxury Resort Spa in the Indian Ocean from World Luxury Spa Awards 2016. 

Located among the unspoiled islands of Noonu Atoll in the Maldives, a scenic 45-minute sea plane journey from Male, The Sun SIyam Iru Fushi is where nature’s simplicity and beauty is in abundance – it’s a world away from the everyday.

The Sun SIyam Iru Fushi features 221 luxury oceanfront villas, including 70 over-water bungalows, inspired by traditional Maldivian architecture. Guests at The Sun Sun SIyam Iru Fushi will enjoy luxurious relaxation, while immersing themselves in the rich culture and heritage of the Maldives. We, the MVHOTELS team congratulate The Sun SIyam Iru Fushi resort for its amazing achievements.

Secret Paradise launches independent & affordable, adventure travel in the Maldives

Secret Paradise PVT Ltd, a Maldives based travel company, has this month launched Affordable Adventure Travel Packages. They have taken the opportunity that now exists in the Maldives to allow tourists to stay in local island guesthouses and have created a more affordable Maldives travel option.

Secret Paradise packages combine local island life with watersport activities, excursions and relaxation. Travelling by public ferry between local islands in North and South Male Atoll, travellers will be able to share breakfast and dinner with a local family; participate in traditional Maldivian singing and dancing; join in with a lesson at the local school and learn how a boat is built at the local boat yard. Other activities more commonly associated with the Maldives include discovering the abundance of marine life through snorkeling or SCUBA diving; windsurfing; surfing; sunset dolphin cruises; beach BBQs and fishing. Secret Paradise have also taken into account the restriction of the consumption of alcohol and the wearing of bikinis on local islands and ensure guests benefit from excursions to picnic islands and resorts where the laws do not apply.

Packages range from 3 days to 15 days and start from as little as US$220 per person. For travellers who perhaps still wish to experience resort life in the Maldives or are planning a trip to Sri Lanka, the 3 & 4 day packages offer an excellent way to combine both styles of holiday, particularly as all packages start and finish at Male International Airport and should a package not entirely suit the team at Secret Paradise are able to customize.

So if you feel like it is time to sit in the shade of a palm tree, slip off your shoes and adventure Maldivian style contact the Secret Paradise team at sales@secretparadise.mv or check out the website www.secretparadise.mv

About Secret Paradise PVT Ltd.

The company formed this year is owned by Male businessman, Mr Mohamed Ziyad and developed and managed by Ruth Franklin, a former General Manager for the UK  retailer BHS. Following 27 years’ service with the retailer, owned by Sir Philip Green, which included management of the BHS flagship store in Oxford Street London, Miss Franklin packed her suitcase, gathered her SCUBA dive gear and headed for a new challenge in the Maldives, a destination she was no stranger to having  visited the archipelago on 30 occasions during the past 10 years.

Based in Hulhumale, just 15 minutes by speed boat from Male, the capital of the Maldives, Secret Paradise offers ‘dream holidays at dream prices’. Secret Paradise ‘are committed to providing affordable Maldivian holiday options. They believe the idyllic white beaches, turquoise lagoons, clear warm waters and coral reefs abundant with marine flora and fauna should be available to everyone. They offer independent travel, local guest houses, safari boats and resorts that are affordable, comfortable and give a warm welcome allowing guests to experience the best from the paradise the team call home.

http://www.secretparadise.mv/index.php