If everything goes fine, the beautiful beach destination Maldives might reopen to tourists in July, with some protection guidelines. Being one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world, the Republic of Maldives is reopening its border next month. But this will be some mandatory COVID-19 guidelines in place.
Minister of Tourism of Maldives Ali Waheed announced that the Maldives is planning to reopen from July 1. The official statement issued by the Ministry board read, “We are planning to reopen our borders for visitors in July, 2020.”
The country is all set to welcome tourists from Asian countries, including India, China, South Korea and Sri Lanka, and in the Middle East. Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways will begin commercial operations and tourists arriving by private plane or yacht would be allowed to enter the country.
However, the country won’t be entertaining guests from 12 countries, which includes Spain, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
The statement also mentioned that visitors coming to the country won’t be charged any additional fees. Earlier, the board has proposed extra tourist visa charges and landing fees. But as per new guidelines, no extra charges will be levied on tourists.
Statement on Restarting Maldives Tourism. pic.twitter.com/Kff0RV3wOW
— Ministry of Tourism (@MoTmv) May 30, 2020
The island nation of Maldives is among those countries which largely rely on tourism. And as per data, tourism alone is responsible for the country’s 28 percent of GDP and over 60 percent of foreign reserves. But with the border closed and nationwide lockdown triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, the income coming from tourism suffered a huge loss.
The Tourism Minister also said that the country cannot remain closed for long. So the authorities along with industry representatives are preparing guidelines to restart tourism in Maldives from July.
The country’s borders were shut in the month of March because of the fast spreading deadly Coronavirus.
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