The Economic Impact of Cultural Tourism in the Maldives

This report explores the economic impact of cultural tourism in the Maldives. It discusses the importance of cultural tourism for small island destinations like Maldives and how it can enhance the employment status, growth rate of the economy and standard of living of the state. The report evaluates the impact and emergence of cultural tourism, defines the magnitude to which cultural tourism adds to the progression of the economic eminence, and recognizes the supply and demand of cultural tourism. The report also proposes solutions and strategies for success.

Running head: BUSINESS RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The economic impact of cultural tourism in the Maldives
Name of the student:
Name of the University:
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Executive summary:
Over the last few decades, the world economy has been experiencing swiftly escalating socio-
economic conversions. Among many researchers, tourism industry has become a key
ingredient of growth. Irrespective of the size and of the nation, tourism industry provides
much amount of boost to the economy. Considering the case of the small states like
Maldives, it can be seen that, it is crucial for small island destinations to find new ways to
create jobs and incomes to comprehend their economic needs and quality of life. Besides, it is
recognised that tourism signifies one of the world’s chief industry contributing to the largest
source of foreign exchange. Considering the state’s tourism during the last few decade, it can
be seen that the past tourism has been based on the accommodation and hospitality sector
until recently people understood the need for exploration of new areas of tourism that were
yet to be tapped is highly required. Likewise, the incentive behind this research is based on
the tourism status of the Maldives and how the available resources and natural environment
can be used in the development of the booming tourism sector. During the late 90s tourism in
the Maldives began and since then it has been growing at a rapid rate that has attract the
attention of rigorous research in this field. Maldivian archipelago, located 500 km from
southern tips of both India and Sri Lanka is the main source of attraction to tourists. Under
this scenario, this research is aimed to find out the perspective of the citizen of the nation
regarding the importance of the cultural tourism from the different perspective. In addition to
this, this report will trace the different factors that has affected the growth of the same and
next to this it will try to trace how the tourism industry has become one of the important
section of the society for its growth.
Maldives tourism industry has produced substantial amount of jobs that has aided the
economy to move forward with a higher interest rate. Conventional economic measures like
size of the industry, growth rate and share to the GDP has not been fully successful to

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describe the level of association between the economic growth and the growth of the tourism
industry. Tourism is one of the largest and growing sector in the world that has been evolving
at a rapid rate in the case of the developing and the small island countries. When it comes to
the Maldives, then the tourism has large scale of importance to the economic value and
culture of the state. The state has 97 luxury resorts as of now and it is accounted for
generation of 70% of jobs in the country that makes it one of the important source of
employment in the country. The numerous challenges faced by the island nation has never
deterred the tourism sector. It has continued to thrive and the tourism prospects in the island
nation looks presently looks stronger than ever.
From the discussion it has been found that the economy of state has grew to some
extent with the enhancement of the cultural tourism of the state. Though there has been
difference in the researched perspective of the economic growth through the cultural tourism
growth and the literary evidences, it has been found that it was mainly sourced due to the
small sample size. Almost half of the sample population believes that there is some
association between the economic growth and the cultural tourism growth, whereas 1.67
portion of population out of 10 believes that growth of the economy is germinated through
the growth of the cultural tourism. Additionally it has been found that the less amount of
population believes that the growth of the economy has been germinated through the cultural
tourism making the result insignificant.

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Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction:.............................................................................................................6
1.1 Background of the study:.............................................................................................6
1.2 Research problems identified:.....................................................................................7
1.3 Research questions:.....................................................................................................7
1.4 The aim of the study:...................................................................................................8
1.5 The objectives of the research:....................................................................................8
1.6 Structure of the report:.................................................................................................9
Chapter 2: literature review:.....................................................................................................10
2.1 Introduction:...................................................................................................................10
2.2 Literature review of the industry:...................................................................................10
2.3 industry size:..................................................................................................................12
2.4 growth rate:....................................................................................................................15
2.5 Comparison of growth of the Maldives’s tourism to other nation:................................18
2.6 situational analysis:........................................................................................................20
2.7 proposed plan of analysis for each problem identified:.................................................23
2.8 Literature gap:................................................................................................................23
2.9 chapter summary:...........................................................................................................24
Chapter 3: Methodology of the study:.....................................................................................25
3.1 introduction:...................................................................................................................25
3.2 research onion:...............................................................................................................25
3.3 research philosophy:.......................................................................................................26
3.4 research approach:..........................................................................................................27
3.5 research design:..............................................................................................................28
3.6 data collection methods:.................................................................................................29
3.7 data reliability:...............................................................................................................29
3.8 research ethics:...............................................................................................................29

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3.9 chapter summary:...........................................................................................................30
Chapter 4: Results and discussion:...........................................................................................30
4.1 introduction:...................................................................................................................30
4.2 findings from analysis:...................................................................................................30
4.4 proposed solution:..........................................................................................................36
4.5 selection of strategies for success:.................................................................................36
4.6 chapter summary:...........................................................................................................37
Chapter 5: Conclusion and future research:.............................................................................38
5.1 introduction:...................................................................................................................38
5.2 conclusions:....................................................................................................................38
5.3 limitations of the study:..................................................................................................39
5.4 Future study:...................................................................................................................39
5.5 chapter summary:...........................................................................................................40
Chapter 6: Recommendations:.................................................................................................40
Reference:................................................................................................................................43
Appendix:.................................................................................................................................47

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Chapter 1: Introduction:
1.1 Background of the study:
Over the last few decades, the world economy has been experiencing swiftly escalating
socio-economic conversions. Through the means of globalisation, along with the
encroachment of know-how, evolving prospects in the new markets as led to a world of
swiftly fluctuating business environments (Nesbit & Nast, 2017). However, Dubai, Bowen &
Altima, (2015) indicate astonishing scale, rapid change and difficulties are features that alter
rising cities into a spaces of occasions and risks.
Among many researchers, tourism industry has become a key ingredient of growth.
Irrespective of the size and of the nation, tourism industry provides much amount of boost to
the economy (Song 2016). Considering the case of the small states like Maldives, it can be
seen that, it is crucial for small island destinations to find new ways to create jobs and
incomes to comprehend their economic needs and quality of life. Besides, it is recognised that
tourism signifies one of the world’s chief industry contributing to the largest source of
foreign exchange (Horner & Swarbrooke, 2016). Similarly, small island destinations like
Maldives are on the belvedere to grow and are in the search for new ways to enhance their
competitiveness which has led to the emergence of new forms of tourism (Hall, 2016).
considering the state’s tourism during the last few decade, it can be seen that the past tourism
has been based on the accommodation and hospitality sector until recently people understood
the need for exploration of new areas of tourism that were yet to be tapped is highly required.
Hence, this research led to the search of a type of tourism which had benefits to overrule its
costs which are identified as cultural tourism.
Likewise, the incentive behind this research is based on the tourism status of the Maldives
and how the available resources and natural environment can be used in the development of
the booming tourism sector. During the late 90s tourism in the Maldives began and since then

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it has been growing at a rapid rate that has attract the attention of rigorous research in this
field. Maldivian archipelago, located 500 km from southern tips of both India and Sri Lanka
is the main source of attraction to tourists (Amira, 2016). According to the master plan by
Maldives Ministry of Tourism and Civil aviation, it is recognised that although the Maldives
has a rich cultural heritage and history, cultural tourism is not promoted as a form of tourism
development (Bowen, Zubair & Altinay 2017). Under this scenario, this research is aimed to
find out the perspective of the citizen of the nation regarding the importance of the cultural
tourism from the different perspective (Leon & Arana, 2016). In addition to this, this report
will trace the different factors that has affected the growth of the same and next to this it will
try to trace how the tourism industry has become one of the important section of the society
for its growth.
1.2 Research problems identified:
Considering the perspective of the Maldives regarding the cultural tourism, it can be seen
that the country has failed to consider the cultural tourism as one of the source of economic
development (Mowforth & Munt, 2015). Recent report from the Maldives Ministry of
Tourism and Civil aviation highlights the same phenomenon because, it has been observed
that the tourism industry over the year in this country has increased at a smaller rate and the
investment in the industry has been comparatively low (Shakeela & Becken, 2015). This in
addition to this highlights that the state has failed to demonstrate how cultural tourism can
enhance the employment status, growth rate of the economy and standard of living of the
state (Sharpley & Telfer, 2015). Under this scenario, it has become highly important to
analyse the importance of the cultural tourism and trace how it can really help the small
country like Maldives in its endeavour. Moreover, it is important to demonstrate the inherent
features of the cultural tourism to the state for the overall growth of the state.

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1.3 Research questions:
Research question is as follows:
 The economic impact of cultural tourism in the Maldives
1.4 The aim of the study:
Aim of the study is to investigate and explore the following parameters:
 To evaluate the impact and emergence of cultural tourism
 To define the magnitude to which cultural tourism adds to the progression of the
economic eminence
 To recognize the supply and demand of cultural tourism
1.5 The objectives of the research:
Objective of the study is as follows:
Through this study the researcher is aimed to address the typologies of the cultural
tourism, which was developed by the McKercher during 2002, in order to determine the
impact of the cultural tourism from the perspective of the economy in the Maldives (Lenao,
2014). In addition to this, the study examines the requirement for the diversification of the
contribution of Maldives to the urbane and the developing demands of tourism. Besides this,
the research is aimed to contest the sustainability of the tourism industry in the nation through
the data collected from the primary data collection as well as the data collected from the
secondary sources. moving forward, it can be stated that the research will judge why the
cultural tourism need to be taken as an important source of the tourism that need proper
exposure from the fellow citizen of the nation to aid the economy. The research will portray
that cultural tourism to the Maldives will not only help it to become a substitute source of the
income for the peoples of the nation, in addition to this, it can be utilised as the means of the
economic gain to the community. Lastly the research intends to recognize the accelerating

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factors of cultural tourism as a crucial sponsor to the tourism industry through assessing the
rewards and drawbacks.
1.6 Structure of the report:
Following research is aimed to trace the economic impact of cultural tourism in the
Maldives and for this purpose the research will consider the descriptive research technique,
where it will utilise both the qualitative and quantitative data in order to achieve the desired
objective of this research (Best & Kahn, 2016). Next to the introduction section, there will be
literature review section, which will discuss the previous literary resources regarding the
cultural tourism. In addition to this, it will conduct the analysis of industry size and will judge
the growth rate of the same over the year. Situational analysis of the industry will be
performed to assess the present situation of the industry and then it will try to propose plan
for the identified problem. Next to the literature review section, the research will perform
methodology and study of the research work, where it will enhance the details regarding the
data collection. In this section, it will portray how the primary data has been collected and
next to this, data validity will be performed to ensure that collected data is reliable. The
research method used is for this research is mixed method of qualitative and quantitative
research as the study mostly emphases on the feature of cultural tourism and its influence on
the economy of the state. This research contains a comparatively large sample of 40
respondents. Hence, data is collected from 20 staff who are accountable for handling the
travelling business and knowledgeable in the field of travel and tours business. While
functioning closely and dealing unswervingly with the tourists they have acquired 25 years of
involvement, excellence and experience in the tourism culture and development of the
Maldives.
Next to this, there will be fourth chapter, where the researcher will portray the results
and discussion of its findings. In this section researcher will try to analyse how the

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perspective of the sample differs or infer with the literary ideas mentioned in the second
chapter. Lastly, there will be the fifth chapter that will be dedicated for the conclusion and
recommendations. In this section, the researcher will portray the conclusion of the research
and depict the action plan for the future developed in this regard. Next to this, limitation of
the research will be discussed and it will provide recommendation to enhance the finding in
the future researches.
Chapter 2: literature review:
2.1 Introduction:
Coverage of the economic implication of the tourism is one of the growing
sector that has been attracting the mind of the researchers since decades. Field of the
economic implication of the tourism is one of the sectors that has been influential since the
last two decades. Economic implication through the tourism is not a delineated matter and
various different scenarios overlap with each other consequently that makes it a
multidisciplinary issue, which is beyond the scope of a single research to interpret.
Considering the various literatures from the previous researches, it can be seen that the
researchers has segregated the economic implication of the tourism into two broad different
categories, which are developing and developed nation’s economic impact through the
tourism and the second one is the development of the small islands nation’s economic
implication through the tourism. This research is aimed to discuss the case of the Maldives,
where the cultural tourism is on rise during the last one decade due to its rich cultural heritage
along with the outstanding places to visit. Through this literature review section, the
researcher will provided detailed overview of the cultural tourism industry of the Maldives
and showcase the economic impact of the same on the country’s economy. Through the
analysis of the industry size, growth rate, situational analysis of the industry, this section will

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try to interpret the findings of the previous researches and portray how the economy of the
Maldives has performed utilising this new channel of growth.
2.2 Literature review of the industry:
Tourism is one of the growing sector around the world that provides considerable
amount of share to the world Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and its importance to the
nation’s economy has been growing at galloping rate. Considering the case of the developed
nations, it can be seen that the tourism is an important part of the society that provides
considerable amount of employment and job opportunities to the allied industries (Baum,
2015). Coming to the developing nations and to the small island states, it can be seen that
tourism plays a more crucial role because it aids to generation of higher amount of jobs as
well as GDP to the economy (Leigh & Blakely, 2016). For instance. If the case of the
Maldives can be considered, then it can be seen that tourism produced more than 76.6% out
of total GDP of the nation and it ranked first among the small island countries according to
the tourism industry growth data (Shakeela & Weaver, 2016). In addition to this, it has also
been found that the Maldives tourism industry has produced substantial amount of jobs that
has aided the economy to move forward with a higher interest rate. Considering these details
it can clearly be entailed that the importance of the tourism industry is not to be
underestimated. According to the researchers, tourism industry is the world’s largest and
fastest growing industry in the world. However, when it comes to the economic significance
of the same, then there is very little has been researched till now. Conventional economic
measures like size of the industry, growth rate and share to the GDP has not been fully
successful to describe the level of association between the economic growth and the growth
of the tourism industry (Shakeela & Weaver, 2018). According to the researcher,
conventional economic tools like market size, economic growth, employment status shift
only describes the binary attributes of a problem under research, however, when it comes to

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the multifaceted problems like tourism, where large number of subsidiary industry is present,
makes the economic study of the same hard. Various researches has ignored the non-
marketed attributes as well as the environmental indicators from their studies regarding the
economic implication of the tourism on the respective country that has caused lack of studies
that clearly identify and contest the economic association of the cultural tourism of the
Maldives (Pérez-Rodríguez, Ledesma-Rodríguez & Santana-Gallego, 2015). Maldives being
one of the largest island state that has strong and well established heritage attracts a lot of
tourists round the world throughout the year.
2.3 industry size:
Tourism is one of the largest and growing sector in the world that has been evolving
at a rapid rate in the case of the developing and the small island countries. When it comes to
the Maldives, then the tourism has large scale of importance to the economic value and
culture of the state. According to the research of the researcher, it can be seen that the small
island developing states (SIDS) are those states, which has been facing largest growth rate
among many other states (Cowburn et al., 2018). Tourism industry in the Maldives is known
for their world class resorts, and best in the class service with the help of the well decorated
customer service executives. In addition to this, it is also true that the Maldives possess wide
amount of cultural importance, which is another major reason for the recent rise in the
tourism industry of the state. The place is located to the south west of the Sri Lanka that
comprise more than 1190 islands, which stretch over the area of 90,000 square kilometres
(Hosterman & Smith, 2015). Climate in this place remains within the range of 30 degree
Celsius throughout the year that provides favourable condition for the growth of the tourism
in the nation (Buckley, Guitart & Shakeela, 2017). Outstanding places like underwater coral
gardens specially curated for attracting the tourists who want to enjoy the underwater life,
white sandy beaches around the state and the turquoise blue lagoons entice the tourists to visit

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this place again and again (Ali, Cullen & Toland, 2015). Maldives has a long cost line, which
is as long as 664 km and along with the unmatchable natural beauty attracts lot of tourists to
this place (Hassan & Basit, 2015).
. The list of the unique things in the state not ends here, because this research has not
mentioned yet about the luxury resorts of the state, which is another important attraction for
the tourists owing to their outstanding service. The state has 97 luxury resorts as of now and
it is accounted for generation of 70% of jobs in the country that makes it one of the important
source of employment in the country (Lee, Hampton & Jeyacheya, 2015). Considering the
data available, it can be seen that the Maldives’s tourism industry has been growing at a rapid
rate, however the rate of growth is not sustainable. For instance, it can be seen that, during
the 2008 to 2014, there has been strong recessionary period in the US and EU nations, that
has lowered the demand of the tourism industry substantially (Mowforth & Munt, 2015). It
has caused a 4% drop in the growth of the Maldives tourism industry growth (Bac, Bugnar &
Mester, 2015) Visitors from the US and EU are the major portion of the visitors who visit
Maldives, and they are accounted for the highest amount of spending during their visit to the
country. Thus a small change in the demand from these states can provide a huge blow to the
country’s economy.
The numerous challenges faced by the island nation has never deterred the tourism
sector. It has continued to thrive and the tourism prospects in the island nation looks presently
looks stronger than ever. With the arrival of approximately 1,286,135 tourists from across the
globe, the industry size has grown by 1.8% in 2016 recording a 4.5% growth in the annual in
flock of tourists (straitstimes.com, 2018). The industry size is huge and it forms the backbone
of the economic prosperity of the island nation. Tourism industry accounts for 33% of the
entire Maldivian economy and is the most prominent industry of the island nation. Thus it can
be seen, how important tourism is as an industry to Maldives. The government of the island

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nation of Maldives, thus is very much interested in the success of the tourism sector as it is
the largest source of revenue and employment for the island nation. A detailed analysis of the
inbound tourists from the various countries into the island nation has been provided below.
These inbound international tourist form the backbone of the huge tourism industry of the
island of Maldives.
Figure 1: Tourist arrival market share by region
Source: (Maldives Tourism 2016)
The major flock of tourist come from the Euro zone and Europe accounts for the
largest in flock of tourists in the island nation. It can be seen from the diagram mentioned
above, that throughout the eight year period, it is evident that Europe had the largest share of
tourist in the Maldivian economy, with an average of 48.5, which is more than the average of
some of the other countries (Becken, 2014). Among, the Asia & the Pacific region, China,
India and Russia are some of the most prominent visitors in the island nation. The scenic

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beauty of the place has been very successful in pulling tourists from all over the globe. This is
one of the most important reasons for the success of the tourism industry of Maldives in
recent times (Mowforth & Munt, 2015). This proves, why Tourism is the largest source of
employment for the people of Maldives. However, on the supply side, little has been done to
ensure a consistent supply of tourists. As a result of the huge demand of tourism for the island
nation, the supply of the operational capacity of the country has also increased, but not at the
same pace as that of the demand for the tourists. Some of the statistics of the operational
capacity of the country have been provided below:
Figure 2: Tourism industry overview of Maldives
Source: (Maldives Tourism, 2016)
It can be seen here that the at least 339 guest houses are still not in functional position
and the same case has been seen in the case of the safari vessels (Alkema, 2017). Being the
largest contributor of the GDP, it is a shame, that the government has not yet fully utilised the
potential of the tourism industry in the island nation. Nevertheless, the government has been
incessantly trying to improve on this frontier of increasing and improving the operational
capacity in this case.

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2.4 growth rate:
Tourism industry of Canada has been growing at rapid speed since the last decade and
one of the main driver that has been enhancing the performance of the industry is its cultural
values. In roder to understand the growth of the tourism industry various literary researches
has showcased various performance indicators (Jiang & Ritchie, 2017). This research will
utilise the same and portray the growth rate of the Maldives tourism industry over the time.
Figure 3: contribution of travel and tourism to the GDP of the Maldives
Source: (Travel & Tourism Economic Impact 2017 Maldives, 2018)
From the above figure it can be seen that the contribution of the travel and tourism
industry of the Maldives has been rising at rapid rate since the last one decade. Though the
number of tourists visited Maldives during 2008 fell marginally from the 2007 due to the
global recession, it keep up peace right from the next year (Sharpley, 2018). During the year
2014, the share of the travel and tourism industry to the GDP of the Maldives has increased
substantially and according to the forecast, by the next one decade share of the tourism
industry is all set to be enhanced (Travel & Tourism Economic Impact 2017 Maldives, 2018).

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Figure 4: contribution of travel and tourism to the employment of the Maldives
Source: (Travel & Tourism Economic Impact 2017 Maldives, 2018)
From the figure 4, it can be seen that the employment contribution by the travel and
tourism industry will rise substantially over the years. Job creation through the tourism
industry is on rise and the nation is expected to face high amount of growth in the job
creation by the next one decade. Right side panel of the figure 4 showcase that though the
whole economy employment level will fall over the year, however, total number of jobs
created through the Maldives tourism industry will be higher than as of now (Buckley et al.,
2017). It highlights the future of the Maldives economy where it will have higher amount of
job through the growth of the tourism industry of the state and additionally it can be entailed
that tit will face better economic growth too (Travel & Tourism Economic Impact 2017
Maldives, 2018).

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Figure 5: Present and future forecast of Maldives tourism contribution to the economy
Source: (Travel & Tourism Economic Impact 2017 Maldives, 2018)
Considering the overall performance of the Maldives’ tourism industry, it can be seen
that the state has high growth prospect. Considering the figure 5, it can be seen that during
2017, there has been rise in the direct contribution to GDP of the state has increased by 7.3%
compared to the 2016 and the number of visitor exports has considerably increased by 7.3%
during 2017 (Travel & Tourism Economic Impact 2017 Maldives, 2018). These figures
showcase the astonishing growth of the Maldives’ economy. According to the forecast it can
be seen that during 2027 though the growth rate of all the tourism industry variable will fall,
however, overall value of the respective macroeconomic variables will rise substantially.
According to the prediction as shown in the diagram, by 2027, contribution to the GDP will
rise by to 2283.4 million USD, which is, which will be almost double of the present share.
Thus it can be seen that the future of the Maldives tourism industry is bright.
2.5 Comparison of growth of the Maldives’s tourism to other nation:
Tourism is the main and the largest industry in the island country of Maldives. The
essence and the importance of the tourism sector cannot be downplayed, when seen in the
context of employment generation and GDP contribution. The impact of travel and tourism
industry in the overall economic growth of the various economies around the world can be
felt, in terms of direct and as well as indirect contribution towards the nation’s GDP. When
seen from the point of view of direct contribution, is reflected in the internal spending of the
tourist in the visiting economy. The indirect contribution in provided in the form of various
ancillary industries which support the main hospitality industries like hotels, resorts, safaris
etc. Some of the prominent examples of this is in the form of travel insurance, events or
parking tickets, car hiring services, airport parking services, tour guides, luggage sale etc.
(straitstimes.com, 2018). These small industries form the backbone of the main industries of

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hospitality. When the travel and tourism industry is being scrutinised, then the role of these
ancillary industries also comes into the forefront. All the nations across the world depend on
these industries for the growth of their tourism industries. Thus, in the case of the comparison
of the travel and tourism industry of Maldives and other countries, role of ancillary industries
also important.
According to the reports of the World Travel and Tourism Council, the growth of Maldives
as one of the most favoured tourism destination has been pretty well. When compared to
other Asian countries like India, the contribution of travel and tourism towards the GDP,
Maldives ranks 94Th in list, whereas India ranks in 9th position, in the case of Sri Lanka
which stands at 6th position, much better than India, Maldives has maintained the same
position (Bowen et al., 2017). When compared with the other fellow countries, which are
very closely located in the vicinity of Maldives, like Malaysia, Indonesia, Maldives have
performed poorly but in case of other countries like Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles,
Maldives have performed reasonably well. When compared with the latter group of countries,
Maldives, have performed reasonable well as the ranks of those three teams are more than
100 (Rudi et al., 2018). The travel and tourism industry comparative data of Maldives along
with some of the prominent countries have been presented below:
Country 2016 2017
Maldives 3.7% 4.5%
India 8.80% 10.18%
Indonesia 8.1% 10.08%
Malaysia 3.1% 5.2%
Singapore 7.7% 6.7%
Table 1: Growth of the tourism industry

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Source: (Created by Author)
On careful analysis of the table given above, it can be concluded that the tourism
sector of Maldives has been performing at a substantially low level when compared to the
countries of Malaysia, India, Indonesia and Singapore (World Travel and Tourism Council,
2018). Although, when the internal economy is brought into the limelight, then it can be seen
that the tourism sector of Maldives has performed exceptionally well, when compared with
other industries of the island nation. Whereas, when the all-round growth of the tourism
sector on a competitive basis is concerned, then it could be seen that Maldives has performed
at a normal level, when compared to the nations mentioned above, although they have
performed at a high level in both these years.
2.6 situational analysis:
Tourism industry of the Maldives has been growing at a rapid speed during the last
decade. With the introduction of the cultural tourism in the state, it has been seen that the
Maldives has become one of the prominent state that share large amount of GDP from this
industry (Hosier & Pforr, 2016). Presently, with the help of the outstanding resorts and the
marine beauty of the nature, Maldives has been enticing the visiting tourists and it has aided
the economy to have growth.
Figure 6: Travel and tourism direct contribution to GDP wise rank of Maldives
Source: (Travel & Tourism Economic Impact 2017 Maldives, 2018)

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From the figure 6, it can be seen that the Maldives’s travel and tourism industry
shares a large amount to the GDP of the state and during the 2017 it has faced a growth rate
of 7.3% (Travel & Tourism Economic Impact 2017 Maldives, 2018). The growth rate is
considerably high than the India’s growth rate, which is considered as one of the best
destination of the tourists. According to the direct contribution to GDP data wise, travel and
tourism industry of the Maldives ranks 33rd that showcase that the state is one of the best
destination of to the tourists and according to the predictions, it is all set to rise further.
Figure 7: Travel and tourism total contribution to GDP wise rank of Maldives
Source: (Travel & Tourism Economic Impact 2017 Maldives, 2018)
From the figure 7, it can be seen that the travel and tourism industry of the Maldives
ranks 38th according to the total contribution to the GDP of the state and it has grew by 6.4%
during the 2017 compared to the previous year (Hassani et al., 2015). As it can be seen that
the market of the state in the tourism industry has been rising at rapid rate and it will become
one of the top destination for the tourism.

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Figure 8: Travel and tourism direct contribution to employment wise rank of Maldives
Source: (Travel & Tourism Economic Impact 2017 Maldives, 2018)
One of the benefit enjoyed by the Maldives with the higher amount of growth in the
tourism industry is the fall in the unemployment. This industry has aided the Maldives
economy to have 5.5% growth in the employment during the 2017 that highlights the
importance of the same to the country’s economy (May, 2015). Though the employment wise
rank of the state is 39th, however it is oneself the top ranking nations that has good amount of
employment growth rate during the last year (Hosie & Pforr, 2016).
Figure 9: Travel and tourism total contribution to employment wise rank of Maldives
Source: (Travel & Tourism Economic Impact 2017 Maldives, 2018)
According to the total contribution to employment through the travel and tourism of
the state it can be found that the state ranks 45th and it is one of the highest ranking state out
of the south Asian states. During the 2017, total contribution to employment of the Maldives

22BUSINESS RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
has been enhance by 4.5% compared to the previous year that makes it one of the best state to
have solid growth in its traveling and tourism industry (Dominguez et al., 2017). In addition
to this, it makes the whole industry competitive in front of the other destination of the tourists
around the world. Through the cost effective mechanism and effective promotion campaigns,
the state has maintained well exposure of their tourism industry to the world.
From the above discussion it can clearly be seen that the state has grew largely by the
growth of its tourism industry. Through there is ample scope of growing further, however,
various things like constrains in human capital and fund allocation has been hampering the
interest of the industry largely. Though the tourism industry of the state is expected to rise
double, yet the employment level of the state through the industry is substantial. Due to the
fact that most of the employees in the organisation is part time and lacks skill, most of the
Maldives hotels employs foreign nationals as the employees to deal with the international
customers. Under this scenario, it can be state the industry of the state has high potential,
however, lack of the incentive and marginal rise in the employment is not enough to make it
the phoenix for the state that can provide boom to the economy for future growth at
sustainability (Buckley et al., 2017). Literary reviews suggests it need to revamp the
organisational structure and the norm so as to make the industry far more utilisable by the
state in order to enhance the macroeconomic parameters of the state.
2.7 proposed plan of analysis for each problem identified:
In order to complete this study in proper way while fulfilling the objective of the
research it will portray how the primary data has been collected and next to this, data validity
will be performed to ensure that collected data is reliable. The research method used is for
this research is mixed method of qualitative and quantitative research as the study mostly
emphases on the feature of cultural tourism and its influence on the economy of the state.
This research contains a comparatively large sample of 40 respondents. Hence, data is

23BUSINESS RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
collected from 20 staff who are accountable for handling the travelling business and
knowledgeable in the field of travel and tours business. While functioning closely and dealing
unswervingly with the tourists they have acquired 25 years of involvement, excellence and
experience in the tourism culture and development of the Maldives.
2.8 Literature gap:
From the above discussion, it has been found that most of the literatures regarding the
tourism industry in Maldives is centred towards the industrial performance. Most of the
researches has measured how well the tourism industry of the state has performed over the
years and it has predicted the growth path of the same door the coming days. However, most
of the researches has failed to identify how the economy of the Maldives has been affected by
the growth of the tourism industry. Additionally there has been considerable lag in the
literatures regarding the empirical evidence of the performance of the economy in presence of
the rapid growth in the Maldives’ economy that has been fetching a large amount of GDP
from its tourism industry. Through the analysis of the past literary evidences it can be found
that the economy of the Maldives has been attracting a lot of tourists all over the country and
it has enhanced the business environment in the state, however, the literatures has failed to
trace the perspective of the individuals of the economy regarding the growth of the tourism
industry and its association with the country’s economy (Suzana et al., 2015). Under this
scenario this research is aimed to discuss the economic impact of cultural tourism in the
Maldives through the empirical evidence that will be generated through surveying
respondents.
2.9 chapter summary:
From the above discussion it has been found that there has been substantial amount of
growth in the tourism industry of the Maldives and most of it’s comes due to the present
enhancement in the cultural tourism in the state. Though the country is largely dependable

24BUSINESS RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
upon the it’s primary sector for the growth of its economy, however, tourism over the years
has played a crucial role to make the situation diverse. With the growth of the tourism in the
state, it has been found that the country has faced large amount of growth during the recent
days and according to the estimation, share of the tourism industry to the country’s GDP is all
set to become doubled by the next decade. The literary evidences highlights that, with the rise
in the country’s tourism industry, there has been rise in the allied industries too. For instance,
literary evidences has highlighted that the state has enhanced amount of hospitality centres
that provide explicit service at reasonable price making it one of the best destination for the
holidays. Through the above analysis it has been found that, there has been substantial
amount of literary gap due to the fact that past researches has failed to assess the perspective
of the individuals of the state regarding the economic association between the growth of the
economy and the tourism industry. Under this scenario, this research is aimed to discuss the
economic impact of cultural tourism in the Maldives through the empirical evidence that will
be generated through surveying respondents.
Chapter 3: Methodology of the study:
3.1 introduction:
Research methodology is the idea that the researcher has decided to utilise in the
overall study that helps to determine the flow of the research. From the term methodology
researcher wants to mean various type of research method utilised by the analyst in the
overall research process (Mackey & Gass, 2015). Considering the present investigation
process depending upon the cultural tourism in the Maldives this research methodology and
the study section will portray the methodical approach of the research. In this chapter the
researcher will portray the research philosophy and the approach of the research. In the
research design section the researcher will portray the design of the study and moving
forward it will discuss the data collection methods and it will perform the data reliability test

25BUSINESS RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
in order to analyse the reliability of the selected data. One of the main section of every
research is portraying the research ethics, which enables the researcher to portray the ethical
consideration of the research.
3.2 research onion:
This is another crucial part of any research that explain the different layers of the
investigation process.it will aid the researcher in the overall proceedings of the analysis.
According to the research onion, the first layer of the research will provide application of the
research philosophies and the next layer of the onion will provide light on the investigation
process (Saunders et al., 2015). The third layer will portray the overall strategy of the
research and the fourth layer will portray the choice of different kinds of research methods
that the analyst utilise in the study operation. Time horizon of the fifth layer define the
schedule of the research and overall proceeding of the study over the time. The final and the
sixth process of developing the research will determine the application of the overall research
and the strategies as well as the technology utilised in the research.
Figure 10: Research onion
Source: (Mayer, 2015)

26BUSINESS RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.3 research philosophy:
The notion of the investigation philosophy is the understanding regarding the way
through which perceived data can be gathered and utilised. The application of the data
fetched through the survey is one of the most significant pars out of the overall study. The
researcher with the aid of the fetched data constructs the overall structure in the research
prices and post this investigation structure is being utilised. Understanding the research
approach and research philosophy is one of the key parts for the overall research process.
Axiology, Epistemology and Ontology and the three essential points in order to determine the
overall research process (Best & Kahn, 2016). The key role of the research philosophy is the
term that is being utilised to the requirement of the development of the information in the
overall research process. There are four primary pillars of the research philosophies that
include the notion of the realism, positivism, pragmatism and interprerivism. However, in
various occasion it becomes crucial for the researchers to choose the best research philosophy
among the four variety of the research philosophy so as to direct the research towards better
result (Mertens, 2014). However, the researcher in this research has decided to choose the
application of positivism philosophy of research so as to aid the overall investigation
procedure of the cultural tourism industry of the Maldives. The researcher in this study has
decided to utilise the application of the positivism research because it will describe the factual
knowledge, which has been gained through the various kinds of observations. According to
the positivism study, the researcher has limited to data collection and interpretation of data is
also constrained through applying the different variety of objectivities approach and research
findings, which are basically traceable and measureable in quantitative measure (DePoy &
Gitling, 2015). Next to this, it is well known fact that the positivism has five different
principles that allow the researcher to support the research process depending upon the
positivism research philosophy. It depends on the different kinds of local findings and facts

27BUSINESS RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
that the research should aim to explain and in addition it aids to predict the data too. The final
point to choose the positivism is the value of science that need to be supported through the
different variety of logic. Under this scenario choosing the positivism as the research
philosophy is the ideal choice for this present study.
3.4 research approach:
The use of the research approach will aid the use of proper research hypothesis
throughout the study. There are variety of research hypothesis, which different researcher
utilise to study the overall research process depending upon the different available theory.
Through this particular study, the researcher has utilised the several relevant theories
depending upon the cultural tourism industry of the Maldives (Wilson, 2014). There are
various kinds of research approaches that different analyst utilised depending upon the
application of the research process. Out of them key research method include inductive
research approach and deductive approach of research and in addition to this there is
adductive research approach (Collins, 2017). Nevertheless, in various occasion it becomes
hard for the analyst to choose the ideal research method among the available alternatives of
the research methods. In these particular research on the tourism industry of the Maldives, the
researcher has preferred to untie the application of the deductive approach of investigation.
With the aid of the deductive approach of the investigation approach, the researcher
throughout the overall proceedings will be in a potential position, where he will be able to
sustain research operation on the research aim utilising the different assumptions and the
theory (Hughes & Sharrock, 2016). Utilisation of the deductive method of research by the
analyst in the study of the economic impact of the cultural tourism depending upon the
following assumptions. It is assumed that the collected data contributes and acts as a vital part
of the overall research process, however, the data collection is utilised to assess the
proposition and hypothesis that are connected to the existing theories (Cazeaux, 2017). Out of

28BUSINESS RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
the overall deductive process, there are four key steps that the analyst performs to gain a
prosper outcome for the selected research work. The four steps considers the application of
the relevant theory determine the best hypothesis out of the different kind of the hypothesis to
determine the final points in the rejection and acceptance of the literary evidences. It has
made the selection of the deductive approach ideal for the research work, which can enhance
the credibility and acceptance of the project work (Kratochwill, 2015).
3.5 research design:
Developing an ideal research design is essential for the overall study. There are
various applications towards the goods study design, however, the utilisation of the good
research design will aid in the development process of an appropriate strategy for the research
(Meyers et al., 2016). There are mainly four different type of research designs that different
researcher utilise irrespective of the nature of the research assumes in the overall research.
Sampling design, statistical design, operational design and observational design are some of
the most utilised research design by the various researchers. Depending upon the objective of
the research, the researcher of the present research has decided to select the statistical
research design.
3.6 data collection methods:
Data collection is one of the crucial section of the research work that aids the
researcher to determine the level of perception regarding the research objective. Additionally
it aids the researcher to determine how the future work can be done through the collected data
(Marczyk et al., 2017). For the present research, the researcher has utilised the primary
survey with the utilisation of unstructured survey. The data has been collected through the
primary survey that has been conducted on the 40 randomly chosen people of the Maldives
out of which 20 are related with the tourism industry for the last 25 years. From the survey,
the researcher has utilised both the qualitative and quantitative data collection method for

29BUSINESS RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
better understanding regarding the research objective and the actual perception of the sample
population.
3.7 data reliability:
The data has been collected through the primary survey that has been conducted on
the 40 randomly chosen people of the Maldives out of which 20 are related with the tourism
industry for the last 25 years. For the purpose of collecting data survey has been conducted
through the unstructured questioner that has aided the researcher to collect essential data.
Considering this, it can be stated that the collected data is reliable and additionally ethical
consideration of the researcher has enhanced the reliability of the same by large extent.
3.8 research ethics:
Ethical consideration of the research is one of the crucial part. Considering the present
research it can be seen that the research has been done with the strict ethical guidance and
there has been no such actions taken by the researcher, which could harm the confidentiality
of the respondents. During the time of performing survey, sample population was kept in
mind that the none of the respondents has gone through any kind of forced participation for
the survey (Resnik, 2015). In addition to this it was also preferred that the respondent can
withdraw his or her participation at any point of the time in order to ensure the convenience
of the person. Apart from these, researcher has kept focus on the fact that survey conducted
by the researcher for the sole purpose of academic activity and it has nothing to do with the
promotion of the Maldives cultural tourism (St John et al., 2016). There has been no logo or
any kind of symbol that can provide biasness to the data. Moreover, the analyst has ensured
that the collected data is kept discreet and not available in the public domain that can make
the bridging in the public figure of the respondent.

30BUSINESS RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.9 chapter summary:
This section of the analysis has provided details regarding the research process and
method. From this section it has also been found that the researcher has maintained the
ethical consideration of the research and has performed the data collection without any
biasness. Deductive approach and positivism has been chosen by the research for studying the
economic development of the state with the help of the cultural tourism in the Maldives. In
the next section, there will be data analysis that will provided light on the analysis of the
availed data.
Chapter 4: Results and discussion:
4.1 introduction:
Results analysis and the discussion is the heart of any research activity that entails
whether the objective of the research has really been achieved or not (Shakeela & Weaver,
2018). This present research is based on the analysis of the economic growth with the rise in
the tourism industry of the state. For this purpose the researcher has utilised the statically
method of data analysis and the result from the same has been mentioned below.
4.2 findings from analysis:
From the figure 11 it has been found that out of total sample 37 are employed and the
same data shows that 28 people are connected with the hotel and tourism industry of the state.
As it can be seen from the figure 12 other than these people large amount of the sample are
employed with the governmental job and the rest are associated with the other sector of
employment.
Row Labels Count of Employment status of the respondent:
Employed 37
Unemployed 3
Grand Total 40

31BUSINESS RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Figure 11: Employment status
Source: (Created by Author)
From the figure 12, it can be seen that the hoteling and the tourism industry has been
enjoying the major source of population and the second largest employment has been sourced
from the government sector.
Row Labels Count of Nature of employment:
Government employee 7
Hotel industry 11
Other 5
Tourism industry 17
Grand Total 40
Figure 12: Nature of employment
Source: (Created by Author)
Figure 13 highlights that the 12 people are strongly agreeing with the fact that there
has been rise in income level due to the growth of the tourism industry of the state and 12
people are agreeing with the same proposition. On the other hand, out of same population 4
people are disagreeing with the fact and 2 out of the sample population are strongly
disagreeing.
Row Labels
Count of There has been rise in your income level due to growth of the
country's tourism industry
Agree 12
Disagree 4
Neutral 10

32BUSINESS RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Strongly
agree 12
Strongly
disagree 2
Grand
Total 40
Figure 13: Rise in income level due to growth in tourism industry
Source: (Created by Author)
This highlights the fact that most of the people are agreeing with the fact that there
has been rise in the economic growth through the rise in the cultural tourism of the state.
Government
employee Hotel industry Other Tourism industry
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
Total
Figure 14: Nature of employment
Source: (Created by Author)

33BUSINESS RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Agree Disagree Neutral Strongly agree Strongly
disagree
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
Total
Figure 15: Rise in income level due to growth in tourism industry
Source: (Created by Author)
Are you
associated with
the tourism
industry of the
country?
Do you think
cultural tourism
is important for
the Maldives?
Do you think cultural
tourism has impacted
the nation's eco3mic
status?
Are you associated
with the tourism
industry of the
country?
1
Do you think cultural
tourism is important
for the Maldives?
0.575743 1
Do you think cultural
tourism has impacted
0.44881 0.620885 1

34BUSINESS RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
the nation's eco3mic
status?
Table 1: Correlation between the growth of economy and growth in tourism industry
Source: (Created by Author)
From the table 1, it can be seen that there has been low level of association between
the growth of the economy and the cultural tourism development of the state. This highlights
that though the most of the sample population believes that there has been rise in the income
due to the growth of the cultural tourism it has failed to entice the overall economic
performance.
Do you think cultural tourism is important for the Maldives?
Mean 1.525
Standard Error 0.113156914
Median 1
Mode 1
Standard Deviation 0.715667162
Sample Variance 0.512179487
Kurtosis -0.275376578
Scenes 1.012559829
Range 2
Minimum 1
Maximum 3
Sum 61
Count 40
Table 2: Importance of cultural tourism to Maldives people
Source: (Created by Author)
From the table 2, it can be seen that out of the total sample a population with mean
1.525 believes that cultural tourism is important for the Maldives. In addition to this half of
the sample believe that there is substantial amount of influence on the economy through the
development in the cultural tourism.

35BUSINESS RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Do you think cultural tourism has impacted the nation's economic status?
Mean 1.7
Standard Error 0.139596488
Median 1
Mode 1
Standard Deviation 0.882885711
Sample Variance 0.779487179
Kurtosis -1.424683563
Scenes 0.644763043
Range 2
Minimum 1
Maximum 3
Sum 68
Count 40
Table 3: cultural tourism impacted on the nation's economic status
Source: (Created by Author)
From the table 3, it can be seen that sample population with the 1.7 mean thinks that
cultural tourism has impacted the nation’s economic status. Additionally, half of the
population believes that here is association between the cultural tourism and the economic
status of the status. Through there has been substantial amount of difference between the
literary evidence and the perceived result, it can be seen that a substantial amount of
population believes that there is no association between the source of the economic growth of
the state and the cultural development notion.
There has been rise in your income level due to growth of the country's tourism industry
Mean 2.3
Standard Error 0.183275049
Median 2
Mode 2
Standard Deviation 1.159133186
Sample Variance 1.343589744
Kurtosis -0.321719258
Scenes 0.619739643
Range 4
Minimum 1
Maximum 5

36BUSINESS RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Sum 92
Count 40
Table 4: Income level rise with growth of cultural tourism in Maldives
Source: (Created by Author)
Table 4 highlights that with the man of 2.3, sample population believes that there has
been substantial rise in the income through the growth in the cultural tourism of the state. In
addition to this, 25% of the sample population believes their income growth has been not
been germinated through the development of the economy. This highlights the fact that, there
has been less amount of association between the standard of living of the country with the
rise in the cultural tourism growth.
4.4 proposed solution:
From the analysis it has been found that the there is very little growth in the economic
performance of the state with the enhancement in the tourism industry of the state. However,
literary evidence showcase that there is high level of association between the economic
growth of the Maldives and the growth of the cultural tourism. In this context it can be argued
that the small sample can reflect different perspective regarding the economic growth of the
state and the growth of the cultural tourism industry of the Maldives. Under this scenario it
would be ideal to develop such programs that can provide inclusive growth to the economy
rather the superficial GDP growth value. It will further enhance the overall outcome of the
state and enable it to have better future. Additionally the government of the state need to have
higher number of skill development program so as to enable the better growth prospect of the
economy.
4.5 selection of strategies for success:
As the success strategy from the research it has been observed that the state has been
suffering from the lack of human capital and the professionals for the tourism industry. Thus,

37BUSINESS RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
it would be ideal for the government of the state to introduce vocational training centre or the
institutions that can teach and provide exposure to the tourism industry to the population of
the state. Though the tourism industry has been facing rapid boom in the present date,
however, it would be ideal for the government to restrict the industry from exploitation of the
environment so that the state can have sustainability of the industry in long run too (Shakeela
& Weaver, 2016). There has been considerable amount of lack in the foreign exposure to the
tourism industry of the state that has constrained the growth of the same. Government can
take promotional strategies so that the economy can have higher number of tourists around
the world to its tourist’s destination. For the purpose of the data collection from the tourists
and enhance the performance of the tourism industry of the state through bridging the gap
between the demand and supply, feedback form can be utilised (Howard, 2018). Though
there are moderate number of good quality resorts are available in the state, however, they are
insufficient in number to serve most of the tourists during the peak season. Thus, it would be
highly recommended to enhance the number of the hotels in the area so that it can
accommodate all the tourists and provide best in class service.
4.6 chapter summary:
From the above discussion it has been found that the economy of state has grew to
some extent with the enhancement of the cultural tourism of the state. Though there has been
difference in the researched perspective of the economic growth through the cultural tourism
growth and the literary evidences, it has been found that it was mainly sourced due to the
small sample size. Almost half of the sample population believes that there is some
association between the economic growth and the cultural tourism growth, whereas 1.67
portion of population out of 10 believes that growth of the economy is germinated through
the growth of the cultural tourism. Additionally it has been found that the less amount of

38BUSINESS RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
population believes that the growth of the economy has been germinated through the cultural
tourism making the result insignificant.
Chapter 5: Conclusion and future research:
5.1 introduction:
This section of the report is meant to provide a concise overview of the findings of
this research work. Through this chapter it will be explained how the research has been
performed and in the same time it will portray the limitation of the study (Atherton, 2015).
Moving forward, this section of the research will portray the conclusion, which will describe
the findings of the research. Next to this, there will be action plan section, where the
overview of the recommendation will be provide that will set path for the future researches.
Consulting the limitation of the study the chapter summary will be provided.
5.2 conclusions:
From the research work it has been found that the tourism industry of the Singapore is
one of the main growth generator for the economy of the state. During the last decade, there
has been rapid growth in the tourism industry, which has been germinated through the
development of the cultural tourism in the state. In addition to this, from the literary review, it
has been found that the economy of the state has gained a large amount of employment scope
through the rise in the cultural tourism in the country. Moving forward as it has been found
from the literature review section that the economy of the Maldives has substantial amount of
growth in this service, agriculture and manufacturing sector, however, growth of the tourism
industry has been becoming an important centre of the growth of the state. With the growth
of the technological progress and the outstanding resorts in the Maldives has been enticing
the tourists all around the world to the Maldives since decades? Additionally literary review
section has portrayed that tourism industry in the Maldives is known for their world class
resorts, and best in the class service with the help of the well decorated customer service

39BUSINESS RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
executives. In addition to this, it is also true that the Maldives possess wide amount of
cultural importance, which is another major reason for the recent rise in the tourism industry
of the state. The place is located to the south west of the Sri Lanka that comprise more than
1190 islands, which stretch over the area of 90,000 square kilometres (Oysterman & Smith,
2015).
5.3 limitations of the study:
This research is associated with the cultural tourism in the Maldives and the economic
growth of the state. Considering the large scale of the industry UT can be stated that the
researcher has done his best for the better outcome of the result. However, there has been
certain limitations in the research in terms of data collection method and the research process.
The research is based on the small sample of 40 people that has provided contradictory result
to the common literary evidence of the association between the economic growth and the
growth of the cultural tourism of the state. Considering the vast amount of expenditure of the
study it has limited the reach of the researcher to collect data from various place of the
Maldives. Additionally it has been found that the researcher has certain limitation regarding
the available time of the study.
5.4 Future study:
From the above research it has been found that there is huge scope of the future
research to study the level of association between the growth of the tourism industry and the
economy of the state. From the above discussion it has been found that literary sources argue
that the economy of the Maldives will become doubled with the help of the growth in the
cultural tourism in the state by the end of the next one decade (Delprato, 2018). Additionally
it has also been found from the research that the small number of sample showcase that the
economic performance of the state has been influenced marginally with the help of the
growth in the cultural tourism of the state, which contradicts the common literary evidence.

40BUSINESS RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Under this scenario, it has become essential and crucial point for the future researches that
can aid the researcher to trace the reason for the different microeconomic perspective
regarding the growth of the economy and the cultural tourism of the state.
5.5 chapter summary:
From the above study in the section it can be found that there has high scope for the
future research and additionally economy of the state has high potential to have better growth
in future with the enhancement in its tourism industry. Though there has been wide gap
between the common literary evidence and the outcome from the survey, yet the above
section highlights that it can be the ideal source of stimuli for the future study.
Chapter 6: Recommendations:
From the above discussion it has been seen that the Maldives has transformed itself as
agricultural based economy to the tourism and service sector based state that has been cannon
balling its growth with the utilisation of the themes like cultural tourism that has been
producing employment as well as economic performance of the state too. According to the
literary review it has been found that the state has good potential to have higher amount of
growth sourced from the tourism industry. As it can be seen from the forecast, that the
economy of the state is going to become doubled with the growth of the tourism industry of
the state. However, it has also been seen that there are various drawbacks in the tourism
industry of state that can provide substantial amount impediment to the growth path of the
economy. Under this scenario it would be ideal to provided recommendations for the growth
of the tourism industry so that it can keep itself with the forecast. Recommendations fort the
tourism industry of the Maldives are as follows:
 From the research it has been observed that the state has been suffering from the lack
of human capital and the professionals for the tourism industry. Thus, it would be
ideal for the government of the state to introduce vocational training centre or the

41BUSINESS RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
institutions that can teach and provide exposure to the tourism industry to the
population of the state.
 Though the tourism industry has been facing rapid boom in the present date, however,
it would be ideal for the government to restrict the industry from exploitation of the
environment so that the state can have sustainability of the industry in long run too.
 There has been considerable amount of lack in the foreign exposure to the tourism
industry of the state that has constrained the growth of the same. Government can take
promotional strategies so that the economy can have higher number of tourists around
the world to its tourist’s destination.
 According to the MMPRC it would be highly necessary for the tourism industry of the
state to identify and test the information regarding the trend of the tourist visit and
their preference urging their leisure time in the island in order to meet the demand in
higher amount.
 For the purpose of the data collection from the tourists and enhance the performance
of the tourism industry of the state through bridging the gap between the demand and
supply, feedback form can be utilised.
 Though there are moderate number of good quality resorts are available in the state,
however, they are insufficient in number to serve most of the tourists during the peak
season. Thus, it would be highly recommended to enhance the number of the hotels in
the area so that it can accommodate all the tourists and provide best in class service.
 In order to ensure future forecast of the growth it would be ideal to for the
government of the Maldives to leverage community development through the
attraction and activities based approach so that both the visitors and the people
associated with the tourism industry can have better incentive to be associated with it.

42BUSINESS RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
 Providing international health insurance can entice the customer demand of the
tourism industry of the Maldives. If the inbound tourists can be provided with the
standard medical care, then it should additionally aid the healthcare industry of the
country as well as enhance the demand of the tourism industry too.
 A little government spending can boost the industrial structure of the state. Thus it
would be ideal for the government of the state to provide support to the industry so as
to enhance its capability in terms of performance and human resources.
 There should be basic guideline for the tourism industry so as to ensure its
performance and maintain the environment exploitation limit. It will provide better
future growth prospect to the state and ensure that the local population of the state can
have better standard of living.
Through these research work, the above mentioned recommendations can be provided
to the tourism industry of the state so as to ensure its growth and sustainability. Though these
recommendations are limited to the environmental factors as well as they are meant to
enhance the supply and demand gap mitigation capability of the state, various other factor
specific recommendations can be provided, which will provide better perspective of the
future growth of the tourism industry of the country.

43BUSINESS RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
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Appendix:
Questioner for the primary research:
Employment status of the respondent:
1. Employed
2. Unemployed
Nature of employment:
1. Part time
2. Full time
Sector of employment:
Hotel industry
1. Tourism industry
2. Government employee
3. Other
Are you associated with the tourism industry of the country?
1. Yes
2. No
Do you think cultural tourism is important for the Maldives?
1. Yes
2. No
Do you think cultural tourism has impacted the nation’s economic status?
1. Yes
2. No
If yes,
There has been rise in your income level due to growth of the country’s tourism industry
1. Strongly agree

50BUSINESS RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
2. Agree
3. Neutral
4. Disagree
5. Strongly disagree
Quality of life has been enhanced due to rise in the tourism industry in the state?
1. Strongly agree
2. Agree
3. Neutral
4. Disagree
5. Strongly disagree
If no,
Would you like to have enhanced tourism industry in the state?
1. Yes
2. No