Online travel aggregator EaseMyTrip announced NATIONFIRST and BHARATFIRST discount codes to its customers on Wednesday amid the India-Maldives row.
Nishant Pitti, CEO and co-founder of EaseMyTrip, told Platform He also shared screenshots of flights available with a discount of Rs 600 to Rs 700 for flights from Delhi to Bangalore, Mumbai when these codes are used.
These discount codes could be interpreted as a way to promote domestic tourism by the company amid calls from several quarters to boycott the island nation of Maldives as a travel destination following a diplomatic row between the two nations.
Maldives faced backlash after three Maldives cabinet ministers made derogatory comments against Prime Minister Narendra Modi following his visit to Lakshadweep last week.
Many netizens on social media claimed to have canceled their planned trips to the Maldives due to the controversy surrounding the hashtag “Boycott Maldives”.
Joining the “boycott campaign”, EaseMyTrip said it had suspended all flight bookings to the island nation on its website “in solidarity” with India.
Meanwhile, the Maldives government on Sunday suspended three of its deputy ministers after criticizing Modi for his post on the Union as an alternative tourist destination to the Maldives.
Maldives’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the government was aware of « derogatory remarks » made on social media platforms against foreign leaders and that personal views did not represent the country’s position.
Amid the row, many prominent personalities, such as film stars Amitabh Bachchan, Salman Khan and Akshay Kumar and cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar, on Sunday called on people to explore « Indian islands » and coastal destinations .
With contributions from PTI
