Maldives Insider is thrilled to announce that its Director of Storytelling Ali Naafiz has been recognised with the 2016 Journalist of the Year award by the Maldives Media Council (MMC).

Naafiz, who had been nominated for the award several times in the past, was recognised for his work in 2016 with the foremost newspaper in the country, Mihaaru.

Passionate, meticulous and diligent, Naafiz is a graduate of the Sri Lanka College of Journalism and Indian Institute of Mass Communication, and remains one of the best reporters to emerge from the country in the recent past. His rare ability to pen articles in both the local Dhivehi language and English across a broad spectrum of areas — from politics, social, business and travel — makes his skill set unique, while his pivotal role in the transition of the country’s oldest newspaper Haveeru to an online news agency and adopting contemporary journalism cannot be overstated either.

After a career of nine years with Haveeru and later at Mihaaru, Naafiz joined Maldives Insider early this year as its Director of Storytelling. He has since played a key role in shaping the content of its website and social media channels as well as the annual publication.

“We are honoured to have an award-winning journalist and an acclaimed writer with us. As we expand and explore new areas of destination marketing, Naafiz’s varied talents and skills will be extremely useful to our development and to maintain our position as the market leader,” Ibrahim Mahudhee, Managing Director of parent company Maldives Promotion House, said.

Maldives Insider is a brand name of leading destination marketing agency Maldives Promotion House, which publishes an annual publication, Maldives Insider, and an online travel lifestyle experience journal, maldives.net.mv. The company also boasts an unrivalled presence on social media, including over two million likes on Facebook as well as interactions on Twitter and Instagram in the thousands.