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On Air: Are tourists fair game?

Sarah Holmes Sarah Holmes | 15:04 UK time, Friday, 29 October 2010

Picture of a sandy beach in the Maldives

Maldives' leader, President Nasheed, has promised to look at the rules surrounding wedding ceremonies for tourists after a foreign couple were abused by a hotel worker who was meant to be renewing their wedding vows.


The couple, who are thought to be Swiss, received a torrent of abuse from the hotel worker who was conducting the ceremony in the local Dhivehi language. The man has over the incident.

The video has received tens of thousands of hits since it was released onto You Tube earlier this week.

Lots of people have been sympathising with the way the couple was treated.

Carolematthews tweets

Don't think we'll be going to the Maldives for our wedding then

NazzarenaArman tweets

The video is quite disturbing & sad to watch... as I said 'wedding tourism gone bad'

Not everyone feels sorry for them though.

happyhiker posts on CNN.com

So some locals made fun of some english speaking people. We do the same to foreigners here in the USA all the time.

And gav0577 writes on You Tube

So so funny, why can't westerners see the funny side? It serves the ignorant fools right. Genius.
Some people are worried about the more serious consequences though, including the Maldives government. Maldives' Foreign Minister, Ahmed Shaheed, said he was .

GawdAwful writes on CNN

These two have done more harm than you know. The Maldives were severely affected by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, and face the most imminent threat of global warming and now two foolish, callous men try to scare away tourists in an island nation with zero national resources beyond sandy beaches? Throw away the key!

InLKdream posts on You Tube

It's disrespectful and demeaning, not only to the couple but also to everyone else who goes there and isn't from there. You have to remember that without such tourists places like this wouldn't flourish as they do. Its not the couple that is ignorant.

So what do you think? Will this put you off travelling the the Maldives? Should locals respect their foreign visitors more or are tourists fair game?

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