Maldives welcomes Chinese flight, tourists with water cannon salute

STORY: Maldives welcomes Chinese flight, tourists with water cannon salute DATELINE: Jan. 19, 2023 LENGTH: 00:00:54 LOCATION: Male CATEGORY: SOCIETY SHOTLIST: 1. various of the passenger plane arriving at the Velana International Airport 2. various of Chinese tourists welcomed at the airport STORYLINE: The Maldives welcomed the first direct flight from China with a water cannon salute on Wednesday following the latter's recent optimization of COVID-19 strategy. The Capital Airlines' flight with over 190 Chinese tourists aboard was received by Chinese Ambassador to the Maldives Wang Lixin, Tourism Minister of the Maldives Abdulla Mausoom and other officials at the Velana International Airport. Mausoom told Xinhua at the welcoming ceremony that the Maldives earlier forecast 1.8 million tourists for this year, and at least 10 percent increase is expected from the original forecast as Chinese tourists who had contributed a lot to the tourism market of the Maldives, are arriving again. China had remained