Passenger Traffic Performance of Maldives Since Re-Open of Borders
Maldives is a tropical paradise comprising of more than 1000 small coral islands consisting of beautiful white sandy beaches surrounded by limitless crystalline blue sea, making it a popular holiday destination to tourists. Thus, tourism industry is of utmost importance to Maldivians and stands as the backbone of the country’s economy. Unfortunately, when the country was hit by the outbreak of COVID-19 earlier this year, the government was forced to close our borders to international tourists in order to control the speedy spread of the lethal virus in the country; consequently, straining the economy of the country significantly. The borders were reopened on 15th July 2020, after almost 3 months since closure.
Since the re-opening of the borders, statistics from Maldives Immigration and Velena Airport shows that a total number of 18,867 tourists had arrived to the country up until the end of September. From this, 13, 487 tourists; the highest number of tourist arrivals to the country was recorded in September itself. During this period, the highest number of tourist arrivals to Maldives was from Russia, with a total number of 2065 tourists. The numbers are promising considering the fact that the pandemic is still not under complete control, making the healing process even more challenging.
(Photo Credit: Maldives Immigration)
The first tourist facilities that began operating after the re-opening of borders were resorts, with strict safety measures in practice. The government is looking forward to resume operations of hotels, guesthouses and other tourist facilities, inclusive of the ones situated in Greater Male’ Area in the near future.
Maldives holds ‘Safe Travel’ stamp issued by World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC); however, all tourist arriving in Maldives are required to evidence negative result of COVID-19 PCR test taken prior to at least 72 hours before departure from the destination they would be arriving from.
(Cover Photo: Aviators Maldives)