EaseMyTrip takes a stand: No Maldives bookings amid controversy, promotes Lakshadweep and Ayodhya for tourism boost

Bengaluru: Prashant Pitti, the co-founder of EaseMyTrip, declared that the company would no longer accept bookings for Maldives amidst the recent controversy over a Maldives MP's post on PM Modi's visit to Lakshadweep.
Instead, the travel platform is redirecting its focus to promote Lakshadweep and Ayodhya, emphasizing the potential of these destinations for tourism.
Pitti stated, "Every year, 3 lakh tourists from our nation travel to the Maldives, however now they will be unable to use this feature on EaseMy Trip. We have put five new packages online on EaseMy Trip to publicise Lakshdeep and are proposing that other airlines offer direct service to Lakshdeep from Delhi, Mumbai, and Bangalore".
He added, "In addition to promoting Lakshadweep, we are also promoting Ayodhya. In a hope that Ayodhya develops into a popular international tourist attraction, akin to Lakshadweep, where visitors arrive in the spring and foreign travel to our nation rises. To advance our nation, we would like other airlines and travel websites to join our cause".
He further explained the decision by introducing five new packages online to promote Lakshadweep, urging other airlines to provide direct services to the region from major cities like Delhi, Mumbai, and Bangalore.
In an earlier post on X on January 3, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted pictures of his visit to the Lakshadweep Islands, Pitti had posted " Water & beaches of Lakshadweep are as good as Maldives/Seychelles We at @EaseMyTrip will come up with crazy special-offers to promote this pristine destination that our PM @narendramodi has recently visited!"
The travel platform is not only advocating for Lakshadweep but also aiming to boost tourism in Ayodhya.
Pitti expressed the hope that Ayodhya would evolve into a popular international tourist destination, akin to Lakshadweep. The strategy involves aligning visitor arrivals with the spring season and fostering foreign travel to India.
Pitti urged other airlines and travel websites to join EaseMyTrip in this initiative, emphasizing the collective effort to advance the nation's tourism sector.
Meanwhile several celebrities have continued the promotion of Lakshadweep as Tourist destination , Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan on Monday encouraged people to explore the beauty of Indian islands.
Big B reacted to a post shared by former Indian cricketer Virender Sehwag on X and said "Hum Bharat hai, Hum Aatmanirbhar hai and do not harm our self-reliance."
"Viru paji .. this is so relevant and in the right spirit of our land .. our own is the very best. I have been to Lakshadweep and Andamans and they are such astonishingly beautiful locations .. stunning waters beaches and the underwater experience is simply unbelievable. We are India, we are Atmanirbhar, don't let anything blemish our Atma Nirbharta. Jai Hindi" Big B posted on X.
Earlier on Sunday, Indian cricketer Virender Sehwag shared several pictures and wrote, "Whether it be the beautiful beaches of Udupi, Paradise Beach in Pondi, Neil and Havelock in Andaman, and many other beautiful beaches throughout our country, there are so many unexplored places in Bharat which have so much potential with some infrastructure support. Bharat is known for converting all Aapda into Avsar, and this dig at our country and our Prime Minister by Maldives ministers is a great Avsar for Bharat to create just the necessary infrastructure to make them attractive to tourists and boost our economy. Please do name your favourite unexplored beautiful places."
Other Bollywood celebrities like Ranveer Singh, Shraddha Kapoor, Varun Dhawan, Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar, Kangana Ranaut, John Abraham, and others also joined the 'visit Lakshadweep campaign' under the hashtag ExploreIndianIslands.