Maldives Association of Tourism Industry (MATI) held its 30th Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Sunday, with the country’s tourism representative body re-electing a majority of its board for a new term.

Tourism minister Ali Waheed attended and spoke at the event as the guest of honour. Managing Director of Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) Thoyyib Mohamed and other senior representatives of the tourism ministry also attended the event.

MATI Chairman Mohamed Umar Maniku initiated the AGM by giving the official opening remarks, followed by remarks by tourism minister Waheed.

Presentations were then delivered by the special invitees that attended the event, including Ion Vilcu, Director of Affiliate Members Department of the World Tourism Organisation. His presentation, titled, “Strengthening the partnership between UNWTO and the private sector”, highlighted the prospects for collaboration between UNWTO and MATI, which was granted affiliate member status in 2019.

Susan Deer, Director of Industry Relations of the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA), gave a presentation titled, ‘’Failure of Thomas Cook, Brexit and a look towards the future of the UK outbound travel market’’.

A presentation titled, “The Story of Maldives” was also delivered by by Dr Simad Saeed of CDE Consulting.

Ahmed Nazeer, Secretary General of MATI, oversaw the official proceedings of the AGM after giving his statement.

The proceedings included the passing of minutes of the 29th AGM and adoption of minutes, presentation of the annual report and financial statements for 2019, adoption of the budget for 2020, and appointment of auditors for 2020, as well as the election of the executive board.

The following were elected to the executive board of MATI for the year 2020.

• Mohamed Umar Maniku, Chairman
• Hussain Afeef, Vice Chairman
• Salah Shihab, Vice Chairman
• Ahmed Nazeer, Secretary General
• Ahmed Hafeez, Financial Controller
• Asad Ali, Deputy Secretary General
• Ahmed Siyam Mohamed, Executive Board Member
• Moosa Solih, Executive Board Member
• Ibrahim Siyad Qasim, Executive Board Member
• Ibrahim Noordeen, Executive Board Member
• Iyaz Waheed, Executive Board Member
• Visha Mahir, Executive Board Member
• Ismail Siyan Qasim, Executive Board Member
• Aishath Neena Ahmed, Executive Board Member
• Zulaikha Manik, Executive Board Member

As a non-profit established since the introduction of tourism in Maldives, MATI has been at the forefront of almost all travel and tourism related activities and issues in the Maldives for the past three decades. The association coordinates with government and liaise with organisations locally and internationally to solidify member services and operations in the tourism sector.