Implementing a Travel Agency Regulation in Maldives

The tourism industry is the heart of the Maldivian economy. Local travel agencies and travel agents operates as the main link between travelers from across the globe to their perfectly customized vacation in Maldives.

Association of Travel Agents Maldives (ATAM) was established in October 2014 for the objective of representing the interest of travel agencies and tour operators in Maldives. ATAM is led by an ambitious and a highly experienced group of travel agents. Currently, they are in collaboration with Ministry of Tourism of Maldives (MoT) to implement a regulation for local travel agencies in order to safeguard their rights and interests.

A meeting was held yesterday between ATAM and MoT for the discussion of work underway in implementing a regulation for local travel agencies. During the meeting, ATAM and MoT addressed the integral challenges faced by the local travel agents in carrying out their work and best possible solution for these challenges was also discussed.

Further to this, ATA has recommended to mandate a 10% commission for travel agencies to aid them gain competitive advantage over foreign companies. Creation of regulations concerning Online Travel Agents were also emphasized during the meeting. 

As part of the process, ATAM and MoT are jointly working towards producing a draft of the regulation. They have targeted to finalize the draft by 1st October 2020 and are anticipating the effectuation of the regulation by 15th October 2020.

Since their establishment in the year 2014, ATAM has been actively working on securing travel agencies, guaranteeing better economic prospects in terms of tax revenue and enhance retention of funds in the economy. The Minister expressed their gratitude for continuous support provided to the Ministry by ATAM.