Indian travel companies call for boycott of Maldives after row over scornful remarks on PM Modi

Amid the online campaign of boycott Maldives, flight and trip booking company EaseMyTrip in a significant step decided to suspend all Maldives flight bookings after derogatory remarks were made by some of Maldives' now suspended ministers against India following the recent visit to Lakshadweep by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Indian online travel company EaseMyTrip'sco-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) Nishant Pitti, standing in support of India, took to social media X and said, “In solidarity with our nation, @EaseMyTrip has suspended all Maldives flight bookings.”

The travel company, EaseMyTrip, went one step further and started a visit Lakshadweep campaign with the hashtag #ChaloLakshadweep.

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EaseMyTrip, which has its headquarters in New Delhi, was founded by Rikant Pitti, Prashant Pitti and Nishant Pitti in 2008.

Speaking to ANI, Prashant Pitti said, "Our company has recently taken the decision to not accept bookings for Maldives. The reason for this is the row over Maldives MP's post on PM Modi's visit to Lakshadweep. We have taken this decision to establish 'nation first and business later'."

India-Maldives row and debate over tourism

Amid row over tourism between Maldives and India, hashtag #BoycottMaldives started trending on social media platforms as many tourists began cancelling their scheduled vacations to the island nation.

Meanwhile, three deputy ministers of Maldives were suspended by the government on Sunday (Jan 7) for posting derogatory comments on social media against India's Prime Minister Modi.

Watch:Maldives sacks 3 ministers for insulting comments on PM Modi

"The government of Maldives is aware of derogatory remarks on social media platforms against foreign leaders and high-ranking individuals. These opinions are personal and do not represent the views of the government of Maldives," stated the Maldives Foreign Ministry, while responding to the controversial social media posts.

Many prominent Indian personalities, including cricketer Hardik Pandya and actor Akshay Kumar, expressed dismay at the comments posted by the Maldivian officials. In an online campaign aimed at promoting local tourism, former cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, actor Salman Khan and others appealed to people to visit their own islands and not to travel abroad.

Indian Chamber of Commerce, othertravel companies call for boycott of Maldives

Meanwhile, the Indian Chamber of Commerce on Monday (Jan 8), issued an “appeal to boycott Maldives”. Head of ICC’s aviation and tourism committee Subhash Goyal appealed to all Indian trade associations to “stop promoting Maldives in view of the anti-India feelings expressed by ministers of Maldives.”

“Please divert all such queries to Lakshadweep and Andaman & Nicobar Islands which are even better than Maldives in many ways.. other destinations that can be promoted in the Indian Ocean region are Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Bali, Phuket etc,” he said. Goyal further “appealed” Indian carriers to suspend the flights towards Maldives and appealed Indian hotel companies to make more investment in Lakshadweep “for better returns.” Goyal’s STC Travels also stopped selling tickets and packages for Maldives.

(With inputs from agencies)