Lithuanian company that plans to build a “fantasy resort” staffed only by blondes in the Maldives.
Olialia (pronounced Oh-la-LA) has created a business empire in Lithuania, using its troupe of glitzy models with platinum hair to market just about anything from potato chips to pop music. There’s Olialia pizza and Olialia cola, even Olialia computers.
With the Maldives resort – and plans for an airline linking it to the Baltic republic – Olialia is taking its blond ambition to a new level.
“Blond is light. It attracts people like sunshine,” brand manager Lauryna Anuseviciute, a 24-year-old former model, explained at the Olialia office in downtown Vilnius.
It remains to be seen how the Olialia concept will be received in the Maldives, a more ethnically diverse archipelago in the Indian Ocean, which requires foreign developers to hire at least 50 percent local staff.
Maldives tourism officials said they had not received any details about Olialia’s plans and had not issued any permits.
