President Mohamed Nasheed has said the government will introduce strict guidelines on conducting wedding ceremonies for tourists in the Maldives.
All tourist hotels without exception will be required to follow the new guidelines which will be issued shortly, the President said in his weekly radio address on Friday morning.
President´s remarks follow a recent incident where staff members of Vilu Reef Resort mocked and insulted a foreign couple who were renewing their wedding vows at the resort. A video of the incident appeared on YouTube last week.
In his address, President Nasheed expressed disgust at the incident and described the behaviour of those involved as “absolutely disgraceful”.
He appealed to all members of staff working in tourist resorts to be "vigilantly professional". The President noted that bad behaviour, such as that depicted in the YouTube video, can cause enormous damage to the country´s tourism industry.
The government has launched a full scale investigation into what happened in Vilu Reef Resort. In a statement issued yesterday, the government said that "no stone will be left unturned to ensure that an incident like this never happens again."
In his radio address, the President also highlighted on the Maldivian Democratic Party´s congress, which began in Male on Thursday.
The President spoke on the need for strengthening internal democracy of political parties. He expressed hope other political parties would follow the example of MDP and political parties across the world.
