Imagine your working day involves lounging in a hammock with your laptop on a white sand beach on a private tropical island.
Q&A: The Maldives
What is the Maldives like?The Maldives is the lowest-lying country in the world, with a maximum natural elevation above sea level of less than 2.5 metres. It is made up of almost 1,200 islands; 200 inhabited and 97 resort islands. Visitors fly into Malé International Airport, from where they are generally whisked off on a speedboat or seaplane to their resort island, sometimes hundreds of kilometres away.
How do I get there?Emirates Airline flies to the Madives from Dubai, and Etihad Airways launched direct flights to the Maldives last month.
What about the capital, Malé? Most tourists spend very little time in Malé. For one, once you're at your resort, you'll generally need to arrange a speedboat or seaplane to get you back to Malé.
Is it worth exploring Malé? Yes. The islanders are laid-back and it's well worth spending a day wandering around to get a sense of real life in the country. Once you're at your resort, you are going to spend most of your time there, so if you dislike your boss or your colleagues, having a corporate trip to the Maldives could turn out to be a nightmare rather than a dream.
What if there's another tsunami? All hotel rooms in the Maldives are equipped with life jackets.
Tapping away at emails as the waves gently lap the shore amid the faint rustle of palm trees.
Bathed in sunlight, you look up to gaze out at the clear, turquoise waters and recall a pleasant morning spent snorkelling along the coral reefs and marvelling at the underwater world of colourful fish.
As dream-like as this work environment may sound, it was a reality for me on a recent trip to the Maldives. And the country, made up of almost 1,200 islands, is trying to encourage more companies to abandon their dreary offices and jet off to the luxury destination for a few days to carry out their meetings and gain inspiration for brainstorming sessions in its relaxing environs.
"Everyone assumes it's a once-in-a-lifetime or honeymoon destination," says Simon Hawkins, the managing director of the Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation. But corporate bookings are "becoming more popular", he says.
One of the most luxurious resorts in the Maldives, the Naladhu, managed by Anantara, offers companies the option to book out the property's 19 villas on the island, costs starting at US$20,000 a night in low season (Dh73,456). As with most of the Maldives, it can only be reached by seaplane or speedboat from the international airport.
"It still remains the not-so-traditional meeting style," says Claudia Pronk, the general manager of three Anantara resorts in the Maldives. "We do not have a real meeting room." The corporate gatherings are simply held at a restaurant on a beach.
"It's very Maldivian style," she says. "The purpose of the visit may be part meeting, but the rest is leisure. There's a lot of activities, team building. There's a kayak race in the lagoon, snorkelling.
"Companies are starting to discover that the Maldives is a great place to … get [staff] talking in a different mood."
Top 5: Things to do in Malé
1 National Museum.
2 Whale Submarine ride.
3 Local Market.
4 Fish Market.
5 Azmaara Spa.
Source: Tripadvisor
The Quote: "Maldives is bragging rights in a holiday. If it was a car, it would be a Ferrari." Simon Hawkins, the managing director of the Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation
[ rbundhun@thenational.ae ]
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