Hajj Corporation has decided to establish a city hotel in Kaafu atoll Maafushi, one of the largest local tourism destinations in the Maldives and invest in halal tourism, Hajj Corporation Managing Director Mohamed Shakeel said today.
Hajj Corporation has decided to establish a city hotel in Kaafu atoll Maafushi, one of the largest local tourism destinations in the Maldives and invest in halal tourism, Hajj Corporation Managing Director Mohamed Shakeel said today.
In response to a question raised by Fuvamulah Central MP Ali Fazad, who inquired about the corporation's efforts to provide affordable Hajj and Umrah services, Shakeel said that each pilgrim spends around MVR 100,000 on the pilgrimage, with the corporation itself spending an additional MVR 30 million on the overall operations.
In order to make Hajj Corporation more profitable, Shakeel revealed that the company has been exploring low risk real estate ventures.
One of the initiatives in this direction is the development of luxury apartments in Hulhumale', with construction set to begin in the coming months.
Shakeel said that the lack of access to foreign currency as the biggest challenge. To overcome this, Hajj Corporation has partnered with a subsidiary of the Maafushi council to build a city hotel on the island, and introduce halal tourism.
The required land for the project has already been secured, he said.
"A large enough land has been arranged from Maafushi and we have been approached by investors. Maafushi is already an established tourism hub, so the investment here is low-risk. We anticipate earning revenue in foreign currency from this project," Shakeel said.
He said that without generating additional income through such ventures, it would be difficult to reduce the cost of Hajj for pilgrims.
Hajj Corporation Managing Director Mohamed Shakeel
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