Maldives continues to withhold its promise to be among the safest destinations in the world, especially with ongoing vaccination of tourism sector employees. The country has also maintained tourist COVID-19 positivity rate under 0.09% consecutively for Dec 2020 and Jan 2021.
As the world tries to recover from the downfalls of the pandemic, Maldives government made the decision, fully confident in its safety measures, to ensure the protection of tourists and people working in all tourist establishments. Continuing its efforts to do so, as the government implemented the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive, Tourism Ministry announced that 10,000 tourism industry workers will also be inoculated under this program.
With this vaccination drive, resort staff, safari and liveaboard workers, guesthouse staff, airport representatives and even the local artists will be inoculated. A circular issued by the Ministry has requested workers of the tourism industry to register for inoculations through the my.health portal. For expatriate workers, the passport number of the employee is required and the deadline for registration is 9th February 2021. The Minister of Tourism, Dr. Abdulla Mausoom also stated that vaccination arrangements will be made in resorts so that employees can get vaccinated with convenience. He added that the vaccination teams would travel to bigger resorts in order to vaccinate the resort workers in the future.
The vaccination drive, along with the signature “one-island-one-resort” concept makes it easier for holidaymakers to maintain social distancing, while enjoying a truly safe and secluded holiday, making Maldives one of the safest destinations to travel to right now.
Maldives reopened borders to all nationalities from 15th July 2020. All visitors are granted a 30-day free on-arrival visa with a confirmed booking for a stay at any registered tourist facility in the country. The country has also extended ‘Split Stay’ for all types of tourist accommodation facilities, allowing tourists to split their stay between resort, hotels, guesthouses and liveaboard boats, with prior approval as per split-stay procedure and guideline by the Ministry of Tourism.
While there is no mandatory quarantine or testing on arrival, tourists traveling to Maldives are required to complete an online health declaration form and provide a negative PCR test result taken at least 96 hours prior to their departure. The negative PCR test result must be attached while completing Traveler Health Declaration form, which has to be submitted online via IMUGA (www.imuga.immigration.gov.mv), by all arriving passengers before arrival (but not exceeding 24 hours before arrival time).
Maldives has also bagged several recognitions in the efforts to make it a safe destination for travelers. The country received the ‘Safe Travels Stamp’ by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) in recognition of the efforts to implement enhanced health and safety measures in line with the WTTC global Safe Travels protocols. Additionally, the main airport, Velana International Airport has also received the ACI Airport Health Accreditation for consistent safety measures.
Featured Image: Brennia Kottefaru / Photo by: Dynamyst
