99% of resort employees in the Maldives received the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine while 25% of them got fully vaccinated. The Maldives plans to attract more visitors by creating the first fully vaccinated tourism sector in the world.
Earlier, the Tourism Ministry of the Maldives alongside Visit Maldives launched the I’m Vaccinated campaign to share a positive message about the vaccination of staff working in the tourism sector. Moreover, the campaign promotes the initiatives undertaken to guarantee the Maldives remains one of the safest destinations in the world for travellers.
While 99% of resort employees are vaccinated, overall 297,639 people in the Maldives received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine (as of 3rd May 2021). Meanwhile, 109,494 people received their second dose of the vaccine.
Maldives is also planning to offer COVID-19 vaccines to travellers under the ‘Visit, Vaccinate, Vacation’ initiative. This initiative will begin once all the residents of the Maldives get fully vaccinated.
The island nation targets to welcome 1.5 million tourists in 2021. The World Bank has projected Maldives’ GDP will increase by 17.1% this year, thanks to tourism. However, the country will only reach its pre-pandemic levels of tourism output in 2023. Nonetheless, Maldives is on track to welcome over a million tourists this year.
Also read: Maldives Records 91,200 Tourist Arrivals in April 2021
According to the statistics, 396,982 visited the Maldives as of 2nd May 2021. The country witnessed a daily average of 3,254 tourist arrivals as well. Likewise, tourists spent an average of 9.1 days in the tropical holiday destination. Currently, a total of 724 tourist accommodation facilities are open in the island nation.
The Maldives decided to ban travellers from its leading source market, India due to a surge of COVID-19 cases in the neighbouring country. However, Indians can still travel to the Maldives if they’re staying at a guesthouse or liveaboard. But they can’t stay at guesthouses or hotels located on inhabited islands.
Feature image by Hideaway Beach Resort & Spa
