The Maldives is to build hotels on 14 uninhabited islands in order to satisfy rising demand from new markets, including China, within the next two years.

At least four of the larger islands will be leased for three and four-star developments targeted at the UK market.

Tourism minister Ahmed Adheeb Abdhul Gafoor admitted business from Europe, especially the UK and Italy, has been hit by the recession, but he said traffic from China had risen 200% since 2004.

However, the UK remains an important market, accounting for one in 10 visitors to the Maldives. "The UK is a loyal market and we are hopeful it will turn out good," he said. The tourist board will launch an outdoor poster campaign in the UK in the second quarter of next year.

Already there are 60 new resorts under construction in the Maldives, but deputy tourism minister Mohamed Maleeh Jamal said the government would like to see tourism spread from the islands closest to the capital of Male to other regions of the country, including the south, which currently don't benefit from tourism. A new domestic airport to serve the southern islands opened earlier this year, with twice- daily flights from the capital Male.

The Maldives has more than 1,200 islands of which fewer than 200 have hotels and a further 200 are inhabited.

The government has yet to open the bidding process for the 14 islands, but Jamal said hoteliers were "queuing up to get into the islands".

In 2011, there was a 17.6% increase in visitors and in the first quarter of 2012 numbers were up a further 3.3%. Minister admitted there was a drop immediately after a political coup rocked the island earlier this year, but he said arrivals were now "back on track".

"The forecast is looking good."

Speaking at World Travel Market on Tuesday, minister Gafoor pledged to protect the Maldives' hotel spas, which had been threatened with closure by the previous government. "Spas will remain an integral part of Maldives tourism," he said. "This government will never do such a thing to damage tourism to the Maldives."

As a show of its determination to maintain spas on the island, the Maldives was offering free massages on its stand at WTM.