From the beginning of July, the Maldives is planning to ease border restrictions and resume tourism. The tourism industry is working towards establishing new safety protocols for tourists and travelers.
What is the government doing to ensure safety?
In January, the country started working on safety, cure, and management of COVID-19. A National Coronavirus Task Force was established by the President and an all-government effort was introduced with the participation of several agencies.Â
The effort is being led by the Health Protection Agency with the support of the National Disaster Management Authority. Once the country reported COVID-19 cases, the government of Maldives decided to suspend the visa arrivals. Greater Male went into lockdown after the first instance of community transmission on 15th April.
 After six weeks of lockdown, the number of cases had reduced. On 28th May, the government eased restrictions internally with strengthened safety measures. The government is planning to resume the tourism industry with strict safety guidelines in order to protect the well being of both travelers and people working in the industry.
According to the Ministry of Tourism, the first outline of safety guidelines for tourism resumption has been distributed among stakeholders. After a discussion with all stakeholders, the ministry will finalise the safety guidelines and share it with the industry.
It has been announced by the ministry that as per the final report of the guidelines, visitors are not supposed to pay any new taxes or charges on arriving in the country. The ministry also highlighted that the country’s first priority is to safeguard visitors.
