Talking tourism
More and more people are enjoying the luxury on offer in Maldives.
As of February 2019, 137 resorts, 151 safari vessels, 12 hotels and 526 guesthouses of local islands were in operation, creating a capacity of 45,642 beds. And with 20 new resorts set to open this year alone, tourism is booming in the country.
Visit Maldives, or Maldives Marketing & PR Corporation (MMPRC), is mandated to promote all things tourism in the country, marketing the nation as a go-to destination for business travellers and holiday makers alike.
A central part of this month’s cover story is a Q&A with Managing Director Thoyyib Mohamed, who offers an exclusive insight into the industry, while we also explore the travel scene in the South Pacific in the second of this edition’s business travel guides.
Another organisation helping to make holidays easier is Mastercard, leading light in the real time payments sphere. In an exclusive interview, we speak to
Rama Sridhar, Executive Vice President of Digital and Emerging Partnerships and New Payment Flows for Asia Pacific, about why this form of payment is facilitating progress within APAC’s financial ecosystem.
Aussie telco Telstra is also powering technological progress across Asia. We asked Paul Abfalter, the company’s Head of North Asia, about the story of the region’s ever-improving digital transformation prospects. Håkan Agnevall, President of Volvo Bus Corporation, and Deepan Dagur, Regional Head of Trade Finance & Cash Management, Asia at Commerzbank, complete our line-up of contributors to the front end of the magazine.
Our company features section as ever covers a wide array of industries, kicking off with Veolia Water Technologies and the work it is doing to help food and drink businesses maximise the efficiency of their water usage.
“Water is the lifeblood of the F&B industry,” asserts Thomas Debruyne, the company’s Market Manager (F&B) & Digital Transformation Manager for Asia Pacific. “The water footprint for the production of common F&B products reflects the pressure that the industry has placed on freshwater resources.”
Veolia is perfectly positioned to tackle this problem, and Debruyne goes on to highlight the effectiveness of the firm’s AQUAVISTA™ platform.
Other exclusive insight comes from the likes of TNB REMACO, Axiata Digital Services, Restaurants Development Co., Craft Holdings, Archetype Group and Sunfert International.
Enjoy the issue!