Tourism Minister of the Maldives, Dr. Abdulla Mausoom announced plans to restart domestic tourism. International travellers can currently visit the Maldives by presenting a PCR test taken 96 hours before their arrival. However, locals within the country have to quarantine for 10 days upon arrival in another island.
Minister Mausoom tweeted that the ministry will hold stakeholder discussions within the first week of February 2021. Furthermore, the minister said that the ministry will work out a model to restart domestic tourism with maximum safety yet minimum inconvenience.
In 2020, the Maldives reopened its borders on 15th July after about 4 months. The island nation concluded the year with a total of 555,399 tourist arrivals. Hence, reaching the revised target for 2020. Moreover, 172,552 of these tourists arrived after the country reopened its borders.
Also read: Maldives Records Over 57,000 Tourist Arrivals within First 20 Days of 2021
Within the first 20 days of January 2021, Maldives has witnessed 57,599 tourist arrivals. According to the statistics from the Tourism Ministry of Maldives, a daily average of 2,880 tourists arrived in the tropical holiday destination. The figures also reveal that tourists are spending as an average of 9.5 nights in the Maldives.
This January, several Bollywood celebrities, love island stars and popular models have spent their new year getaway in the Maldives as well. Indian celebrities including; Yash, Sara Ali Khan, Raiza Wilson, Nikita Sharma and Lakshmi Manchu has vacationed in the Maldives.
Meanwhile, Love Island’s Joanna Chimonides, Sophie Piper, Georgia Steel, and Kady McDermott spent their vacation in the Maldives. Several models including the Miss World Australia 2012, Jessica Kahawaty, Miss Universe 2015, Pia Wurtzbach, and Romanian Model, Adelina Pestritu have also holidayed in the Maldives this month.
The Maldives targets to welcome 1.5 million tourist arrivals and more than 10 million bed nights in 2021. According to the Ministry of Tourism, more than 140 resorts and more than 300 guesthouses are currently operational in the Maldives.
Feature image by Arena Beach Hotel
