Holiday Inn Resort Kandooma Maldives is running its third annual Manta Month throughout September, pairing guest-facing manta encounters with structured conservation work. The programme arrives as fresh academic data puts a hard number on what divers and resort operators have long argued: live manta rays are a macroeconomic asset, not just a marine spectacle.
Research published in PLOS ONE calculates that manta ray tourism contributed US$227.3 million to the Maldives in 2021, roughly 2.6% of national GDP. The study's authors estimate the lifetime economic benefit of the country's manta population at more than US$311 million annually. Given that the Maldives hosts the world's largest known aggregation of reef manta rays, those figures translate into an estimated US$8.6 billion in tourism revenue over the animals' lifespans.
Sharon Garrett, Director of Marketing & Sustainability at Holiday Inn Resort Kandooma Maldives, framed the findings in practical terms for the trade. “A living manta ray is incredibly valuable, not just environmentally, but to communities, tourism and the Maldives as a whole,” she said. The resort's location in South Malé Atoll sits close to a significant manta cleaning station, giving guests a reliable window into the species' behaviour.
Conservation programming with a commercial edge
Manta Month activities span educational briefings, guided snorkel and dive excursions, and hands-on reef and island clean-ups. The resort is also selling manta-themed pendants, with proceeds going to the Manta Trust, the UK-registered charity that runs the Maldives Manta Ray Project. That research underpins much of the population data now cited by tourism boards and hotel groups.
The initiative dovetails with the property's broader sustainability commitments. Kandooma holds Green Globe Certification, and its parent company, IHG Hotels & Resorts, has made marine biodiversity a pillar of its responsible business strategy. The resort is set to rebrand as Kandooma Maldives under HPL Hotels & Resorts on 1 October 2026, but Garrett stressed that conservation work will continue unchanged through the transition.
For travel professionals, the PLOS ONE data offers a concrete talking point when selling Maldives itineraries. Unlike whale sharks, which are migratory and harder to guarantee, reef mantas are resident and predictable, making them a reliable anchor for dive-focused packages. Resorts in South Malé Atoll, including Kandooma, can leverage this proximity to differentiate their product in a crowded luxury market.
The economic argument also strengthens the case for marine protected areas. If a single manta ray can generate hundreds of thousands of dollars in tourism revenue over its lifetime, the business case for conservation becomes clearer for local authorities and resort investors alike. That message is central to Kandooma's guest education efforts this month.
Manta Month is part of a wider trend across the Indian Ocean, where operators are linking guest experiences to measurable conservation outcomes. Similar initiatives have been rolled out by Four Seasons Maldives, which pairs its surf events with reef restoration, and by Atmosphere Core's properties, which have appointed dedicated sustainability leads. The Maldives' tourism ministry has also signalled interest in expanding citizen-science programmes that let visitors contribute to manta identification databases.
For agents and tour operators, the takeaway is straightforward: manta ray tourism is not a niche add-on but a core revenue driver. With the Maldives welcoming over 1.8 million visitors in 2024, and manta-focused excursions commanding premium pricing, the species' conservation status directly affects the bottom line of resorts, liveaboards and dive centres across the archipelago.
Kandooma's Manta Month runs through the end of September. The resort is offering daily manta talks, guided snorkel outings to nearby cleaning stations, and evening presentations by Manta Trust researchers. Guests who participate in clean-ups receive a certificate and a small gift, reinforcing the educational component of the programme.
As the Maldives prepares for its peak season, the resort's message is clear: protecting mantas is not just an ethical choice but a commercial imperative. The PLOS ONE study provides the evidence, and Kandooma is putting it into practice.
