Maldives is set to spend an additional MVR104.2 million to promote the country's tourism next year.
According to the proposed state budget for 2019, the government would add over MVR100 million to raise next year's tourism promotion budget to MVR157 million.
The original budget of MVR53.7 million was met with concern by the tourism industry saying that it was insufficient to promote and market the luxury tourism island destination.
The concerns forced the government to reconsider the tourism promotion budget for 2019.
According to budget figures, the government has allocated MVR10 million to set up a fund to train locals for the tourism industry. New plans earmarked for next year also includes a job centre to link employers to job seekers in the tourism industry.
According to official tourism statistics, Maldives had welcomed 1,080,459 tourists from January to September this year which is an 8.3 percent increase from the corresponding period last year.
