Maldives and Seychelles romantic choices for newlyweds

he Maldives and Seychelles have been highlighted as popular destinations for newly married couples to take their honeymoon.

Francesca Moore, a spokeswoman for hitched.co.uk, noted that the Mediterranean is popular due to its beautiful beaches and favourable weather.

She said: "For a romantic honeymoon the Maldives and the Seychelles are still popular choices."

The travel expert also offered an advisory to those looking for a honeymoon deal, regarding booking travel insurance prior to departure.

"You want to be able to relax on your honeymoon, so doing things like changing money, checking on visas, and booking travel insurance should always be done before you travel," she added.

According to figures released recently by Hotels.com, 77 per cent of honeymooners are planning on a trip lasting less than two weeks, with budget (74 per cent) and work constraints (56 per cent) being listed as the top reasons for keeping the break short.

Source: insurance.essentialtravel.co.uk

Budget cut to keep Maldives away from U.N. climate talks

The Maldives on Wednesday said a budget crisis will keep its president from attending landmark U.N. climate talks, the results of which could have a huge effect on the future of the low-lying archipelago.

Famed mostly for its high-end luxury resorts and white-sand atolls, the Maldives has also made a name for itself as an advocate for mitigating climate change -- because rising sea levels are forecast to submerge most of its islands by 2100.

President Mohamed Nasheed has canceled his trip to the talks in Copenhagen in December as a measure to cut government expenditure and reduce a yawning budget deficit worsened by low tourist numbers during the global downturn.

"We will engage with Copenhagen as much as possible without the president traveling there," presidential spokesman Mohamed Zuhair said.

The Maldives' $850 million economy, based almost entirely on fishing and tourism, saw its budget deficit nearly triple to 14 percent of GDP last year, due to substantial increase in government spending, figures from the Maldives Monetary Authority showed.

The global downturn has also cut into tourist arrivals.

Nasheed drew global attention shortly after his election last year when he said the Maldives would start looking to buy land in other countries to resettle people once the seas rose, but later acknowledged it was not financially feasible.

This year, Nasheed said the Indian Ocean islands would swap fossil fuels for wind and solar power over the next decade, and buy and destroy EU carbon credits to offset emissions from tourists flying in to visit its luxury vacation resorts.

In 2007, a U.N. climate change panel predicted an increase in sea levels of 58 cm, which would submerge many of the Maldives' 1,192 islands by 2100.

U.N. scientists have warned global warming caused by high atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) will lead to rising seas, big storms, mass heatwaves and droughts.

The current climate pact, the Kyoto Protocol, expires in 2012 and countries are scrambling to negotiate a follow-up deal that many hope will include the United States and commit developing nations such as China and India to cut greenhouse gases.

Negotiators in Bali agreed to start two years of talks to be concluded with the signing of a new treaty at the U.N.'s 2009 climate talks in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Nasheed last year unseated Asia's longest-serving ruler, 30-year incumbent President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, in the islands' first multi-party presidential election. Gayoom has become a vocal advocate for mitigating climate change.

Source: in.reuters.com

I got recognised as Alfie Moon in the Maldives

Shane Richie was recognised while he was staying on a remote island in the Indian Ocean.

The actor quit his role as Alfie Moon in BBC soap EastEnders in 2005.

'Last year I was in the Maldives on holiday and a boat of locals went past shouting: "It's Alfie Moon!",' he says. 'It was the last place I was expecting to be recognised.'

The EastEnders star says fame is something he never set out to achieve.

'Unfortunately, over the last ten years, fame and success have kind of merged,' Shane, 45, tells Saturday magazine.

'And now you're judged on your success by how famous you are.'

Source: nowmagazine.co.uk

Cell broadcast ideal for Maldives public warning: think tank

Cell broadcasting, a messaging system that is found in the two celco networks in the Maldives can be used to send immediate public warning messages to users, a think tank has said.

The cell broadcast facility has to be activated by each phone user.

"It can, if citizens and tourists can be educated to turn on the appropriate channel, serve as an ideal one-to-many channel for disseminating hazard information from the government," LIRNEAsia, a regional telecom policy and regulation think tank, said.

"Cell broadcasts reach further to the sea than normal mobile coverage and can thus serve those in fishing boats, ferries and other craft as well."

In 2008, the Communications Authority of the Maldives had asked LIRNEasia, which has expertise in disaster early warning, to identify the preconditions needed for cell broadcast for early warning and evaluate its commercial potential.

"In the tiny but intensely rivalrous Maldives industry, the operators, each with a customer base less than that of a small city elsewhere, focus almost exclusively on marketing," LIRNEAsia said.

"However, upon being educated on CB’s potential not only for public warning but for myriad commercial and other applications, it is likely that Maldives will become one of the pioneers in effective public warning."

LIRNEAsia says according to the Asian Development Bank, the Maldives was among the worst affected by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.

Loss of life was small, but around one-third of the population was affected and property damage was estimated to have been around 60 per cent of gross domestic product.

"Its principal industry is tourism," the think tank noted. "Ensuring public safety and giving visitors a sense of security are thus high priorities for the government."

Because the population of the Maldives is highly dispersed radio and television would be less than ideal for public warning, LIRNEAsia said. Tourists were also unlikely to listen to local channels. The sets also need to be switched on for messages to be heard.

Short message service (SMS) was also an option but phones need to be pre-registered and congestion could also delay message delivery.

"A discreet campaign telling tourists how to turn on the Maldivian warning channel can not only enhance their security but also communicate the image of a caring Maldives," LIRNEAsia said.

For sustained adoption, it will be necessary for the regulator to continue discussions with the operators to develop a framework for commercial CB applications and to encourage such uses.

Source: LBO

Giant Rays' "Feeding Frenzy" Spots Protected

A manta ray channels plankton-rich water through its mouth near Hanifaru, one of the Indian Ocean islands that make up the Maldives, in an undated photo.

Hundreds of giant fish converge in Hanifaru Bay from May through November, when the lunar tide sucks krill and plankton to the surface, giving rays an all-you-can-eat buffet.

(Read about the manta ray feeding frenzy in National Geographic magazine, or see more photographs.)

In June 2009 the Maldives created three new marine protected areas that include Hanifaru and other crucial feeding areas for mantas and whale sharks, the world's largest fish (whale shark pictures, facts, and more).

Fishing, boat speeds, and waste disposal will be regulated. The new sanctuaries, however, will allow some diving and snorkeling—a healthy tourist trade may provide alternative livelihoods for fishers, experts say.

"The government is committed to protecting and preserving the Maldives' exceptional biodiversity," Maldives Environment Minister Mohamed Aslam said in a statement.

"The marine environment is the bedrock of our economy, supporting our largest industries, tourism and fisheries."

(The National Geographic Society owns National Geographic magazine and National Geographic News.)

—Photograph by Thomas P. Peschak, NGS Image Collection

Source: news.nationalgeographic.com