Hilton Maldives Amingiri Resort & Spa has seen rising demand from GCC travellers, particularly during the region’s school holiday periods, according to its General Manager Mark Eletr.
“The GCC school holidays has been incredibly busy for us, and even though it has been a difficult year for lot of our partners in the Maldives – we have done really well. And the GCC has also established itself as our most important market in this [Q2-Q3] time of the year, particularly,” he told Lana in an exclusive interview.
Eletr’s comments came on the sidelines of the 2026 edition of the Arabian Travel Market (ATM), running from September 14-17 at the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC).
Guests come from across the region, with a lot of Hilton Maldives Amingiri’s customers from UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, as well as Lebanon, he revealed. However, due to flight durations from the GCC being comparatively short, booking behaviour differs from that of guests travelling from Europe, Eletr explained.
“It is considered a short-haul [flight] because it is a short flight compared to coming from Europe. What that tends to mean is, that they are booking last minute,” he said, adding that across the Maldives, more guests are opting for short stays of three or four nights rather than a full school holiday period.
When asked what GCC guests prioritise when booking, Eletr pointed to accessibility as one of the resort’s main advantages. “The fact that it is a speedboat ride, and it’s only 20 minutes from the airport – we offer that 24 hour arrival, which the seaplane resorts cannot.” Guests can reach the resort within an hour of landing, he said, luggage permitting.
The property includes a six-bedroom residence, which Eletr described as a self-contained enclave. “It is not just the bedrooms – it has a private everything – a private pier, a private boathouse, a private lobby, and more” he said, listing a beach club, pool, spa, gym, steam room, sauna, karaoke bar and cinema among the residence’s facilities.
Guests do not need to book all six bedrooms to stay there, he said, with one- and two-bedroom suites remain available for those who prefer smaller accommodation.
Maldives the ‘perfect meeting point,’ says Hilton Maldives Amingiri’s Mark Eletr
Hilton Maldives Amingiri Resort & Spa is entering its fifth year of operation, and its general manager says the focus now is on refinement rather than expansion, with the family market and GCC travellers driving recent growth.
“We approach luxury in a very authentic way, where we are very approachable as a brand. Hilton is globally recognised, but our version of luxury in the Maldives is something that sets the destination apart. So our resort is something that we have very broad appeal, but still be very authentic and I would say affordable,” he said.
He described the current phase for the resort as one of evolution. “For me now, it’s evolution, it’s refinement, it’s looking at what we do well and doing it better,” Eletr said, adding that the family market has become one of the most noticeable trends for the resort in recent years.
According to him, the Maldives has become more accessible for travellers over the past two to three years, with a wider mix now visiting the destination, aided by the emergence of local islands. “People that once thought that they could never come to the Maldives, they can now do it, and they can do it more easily than previously,” he said.
The resort continues to draw couples and families, including multi-generational groups, Eletr said, describing the Maldives as a meeting point between hemispheres. “People from Australia can come and meet parents from the UK. People from across the GCC can meet here – Maldives is the perfect meeting point,” he added.
Bookings recover after difficult start to the year
When asked about the impact of regional conflict on Hilton Maldives Amingiri’s bookings earlier in the year, Eletr said the impact was “most noticeable” in March and April, not just for them but across the Maldives. “Bookings recovered since then with the GCC school holiday period proving exceptionally busy. We consider ourselves blessed and lucky with the relationships that we have with that market.”
Moreover, he attributed the resort’s positioning to a balance between quality and price. “It is not just about luxury; it is about affordability as well. We’re delivering consistent quality, friendly service, and if that’s what you call luxury – then that’s me.”
Looking ahead to the rest of 2026 and into 2027, Hilton Maldives Amingiri’s said the resort will continue to focus on wellness and sustainability. “There are these growing trends, particularly around wellness, and I think that that is something that we can do at a more advanced level,” he said.
“It is about showing people what we do, showing them a chef’s garden, showing them where we create products for the spa,” he added, citing resort tours covering water recycling and waste management.
When asked whether the resort plans to add more six- or eight-bedroom villas, the general manager ruled out expansion. “I don’t have the real estate to do that. I think we’ve optimised the size and the space, and we do not want it to be too crowded.”
The resort’s rooms are spacious and timelessly decorated, and that the aim is for guests to disappear into the island rather than navigate a crowded property, he said.
“There is the ultra-lux collections in the Maldives, and they deliver exceptional experiences. But if their price is five times more than us, I don’t believe the experience is five times more of us. I think we hit that sweet spot of giving people a really great, authentic Maldives experience with hospitality, with quality, with safety, with security, and trust,” he concluded.
