Adaaran Select Meedhupparu
Minister of Tourism, Honorable Abdulla Mausoom stated that the regulations are to be amended to make it compulsory for tourists to have a confirmed negative COVID-19 test result in order to visit the Maldives.
The new amendment to the regulation is aimed to ensure safety for tourists and staff as mentioned by the minister, where more tourists will have the assurance that the Maldives is the safest destination to travel for holidays which will, in turn, increase the number of tourist arrivals as aimed. The borders of the Maldives were closed due to COVID-19 pandemic. Since the border was open for tourism, tourists were only tested for COVID-19 for departure upon the requests by the airlines while some COVID-19 cases were found from the new tourist arrivals.
The tourist arrivals declined compared the estimated number of tourist arrivals by the Ministry of Tourism as the border opens where 120,000 tourists are currently estimated to arrive the Maldives by the end of 2020. The minister outlined that the tourist arrivals will reach 7,000 by the end of this month. The decline was caused by travel restrictions and other COVID-19 regulations in major markets including China, the United Kingdom and Europe.
The minister further stated that the economy of the Maldives depends on the tourism industry and that efforts are being made to provide assurance to millions of tourists who visited the Maldives that the country is a safe destination to travel in order to increase tourist arrivals.
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