Maldives

Project/Location
The Maldives is unique. It consists
of around 280,000 people with a
history, culture and language all of
its own and is situated on nearly
1200 small coral islands covering a
sea area of some 90,000sq. km. in
twenty six atolls (lagoons on top of
submerged volcanoes).

The World Tourism Organisation
commissioned John Robinson to
undertake a Social, Economic and
Environmental Impact Study of
Tourism in the Maldives (Indian
Ocean).

The project was designed to assist
the Government to identify,
measure, monitor and manage the
consequences of development in
order to:

1. Achieve goals identified in the
Tourism Master Plan.

2. Maximise the benefits from
existing and projected tourism
development on a sustainable
basis.

3. Minimise any adverse impacts of
tourism on the economy, the social
and cultural environment, and the
marine and land-based ecosystems
of the Maldives.

To help undertake the study, the
consultant put together a small team
of specialists consisting of an
economist/financial analyst,
sociologist, marine biologist and
coastal engineer.

Project Description
The study was presented in three
volumes:

1. Analysis and Assessment.

2. Monitoring Manual.

3. Action Plan.

These documents draw together an
assessment of the current
situation, giving estimates of
particular tourism impacts along
with a system for updating such
estimates - a `blueprint' for
monitoring and guiding future
planning actions. They set out what
needs to be done, advise on how it
should be done, and indicate how
different organisations can and
should play their part.