Maldives has become Most Top Tourist Destinations for everyone.
Indonesian Tourism Minister Arief Yahya expressed hope that Indonesian Belitung Islands would, in future, be similar to Maldives in terms of tourism in order to improve the income of their local community.
"My dream is that someday, Belitung can be similar to Maldives in terms of tourism and be called the Maldives of Indonesia," Yahya said, adding that the tourism sector of Maldives generates 300 times greater revenue than that earned by the Belitung region.
The tourism minister reiterated that Belitung can be similar to Maldives as tourism is the largest economic industry that plays an important role in generating foreign exchange revenues.
Due to their alluring underwater scenery and clean water, the Maldives is ranked among the best recreational diving destinations of the world.
Maldives was also reported to be the worlds most desired honeymoon destination, according to a global survey by Agoda.com.
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Agoda.com survey reveals Maldives is world’s hottest honeymoon spot
SINGAPORE (February 12, 2014)
Agoda.com, one of Asia’s leading hotel booking sites and part of Nasdaq-listed Priceline Group (Nasdaq:PCLN), today announced the results of their Global Honeymoon Survey, which shows the Maldives is the top dream honeymoon destination for people all over the world.
The survey, conducted online in January and February, 2014, asked more than 15,000 Agoda.com customers to pick their dream honeymoon location from among 20 destinations. A whopping one in five travelers chose the Maldives, with the Greek Islands, Paris and Bali neck-in-neck for second place.
"We know the Maldives is a popular destination for couples but we were surprised that its allure is so global. Among countries where we had more than 100 respondents, only three didn't pick it as the most popular dream honeymoon destination – The Philippines, Saudi Arabia and New Zealand," said Errol Cooke, Vice President Global Hotels.
The Maldives was the most popular honeymoon spot among Agoda.com customers from North America, Europe and Asia, but the runner up differed depending on where respondents hailed from. Paris came in second among travelers from Asia, for Europeans it was Bali and for North Americans, the Greek Islands.
When it comes to dream honeymoons, Europeans prefer far-flung places, as 89% picked destinations outside of their region. As a group, Asians seem the least likely to venture far -- only 65% picked destinations outside of Asia.
Cancun, Mexico, often touted as one of the world’s best honeymoon destinations, didn’t fare as well among Agoda.com travelers. Only 2.4% picked it as their top spot. Of the 20 choices available, Montreal was the least popular, with less than 1% of the vote.