Indian Travel Company EaseMyTrip announced on Monday that it has suspended all flights to the Maldives over derogatory remarks about Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi by the island nation's ministers.
"Water & beaches of Lakshadweep are as good as Maldives/Seychelles," EaseMyTrip founder Prashant Pitti tweeted.
That stance was backed by company CEO Nishant Pitti, who confirmed that the travel company had stopped flight bookings to the Maldives. He added that the firm will now offer attractive deals to boost tourists in India's Lakshadweep, an archipelago of 36 islands located in the Arabian Sea.
"Our company is entirely homegrown and made in India. Amid the row over Maldives MP's post on PM Modi's visit to Lakshadweep, we have decided that we will not accept any bookings for Maldives...We want Ayodhya and Lakshadweep to turn out as international destinations..." Prashant Pitti told Indian media on Monday.
The hashtags #boycottmaldives , #maldivians , #maldivesout , #lakshadweepislands and #lakshadweeptourism have begun trending on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) after three Maldivian ministers made derogatory remarks against the Indian PM — as he promoted tourism in Lakshadweep.
But the Maldivian foreign ministry said the remarks were the personal opinions of the individuals and "do not represent the views of the Government of the Maldives."
Many Indian sports stars, Bollywood celebrities and business tycoons are now calling for the development of Indian tourist hotspots instead of visiting foreign locales.
While the tourism industry primarily drives the economy of the Republic of the Maldives, India has been the world's largest tourist market between December 2020 and June 2023, according to the Maldivian Ministry of Tourism (MoT).