MIB Guesthouse Symposium 2026 begins today at Barcelo Nasandhura

Maldives Islamic Bank (MIB) is holding its Guesthouse Symposium 2026 today, Thursday 15 October, at Barcelo Nasandhura in Male’.

Guesthouse owners, operators and other industry stakeholders are taking part to exchange ideas, build networks and discuss the future of the guesthouse sector. The keynote speaker is Kiruba Shankar, a professional speaker and online business strategist who has delivered more than 700 speeches in 24 countries. His talk covers the changes coming to the guesthouse industry and how operators can adapt in an increasingly digital and competitive market.

This is the third edition of the symposium. The first was held in 2024, with more than 150 participants at Crossroads Maldives. The second took place at Crossroads Maldives on 2 October 2025, with four panel discussions and 150 participants. It was held with Dhiraagu as digital partner, the National Hotel and Guesthouse Association of Maldives (NHGAM) as official partner and Adhadhu as media partner.

The MIB Guesthouse Awards 2026 are being held in conjunction with this year’s symposium, according to MIB’s announcement last year. Crowe Maldives, an independent audit firm, was appointed to run the awards, which have no sponsors. MIB has said 20 awards will be given across three categories.

The programme, panel line-up and attendance figures for this year’s event are not covered in the sources I have, so you may want to add them from MIB’s announcements today.