781 tourist facilities now operational, with 25 more opening doors

With 25 more tourist accommodation facilities resuming operations over the past week, Maldives currently has 781 operational tourist accommodation establishments, of which 197 are in Kaafu atoll.

According to the latest figures published by the Ministry of Tourism, by Wednesday 15 more guesthouses, an additional resort and liveaboard vessel reopened for business over the past week.

With this, the number of operational beds has risen to 49,438, of which 36,772 are in resorts, 9,900 in hotels and guesthouses as well as 2,766 in liveaboard vessels.

The 781 operational tourist facilities include 156 resorts, 474 guesthouses, 11 hotels and 141 liveaboard vessels.

Over the past week, seven more guesthouses resumed operations in Kaafu atoll, five in Alif Alif atoll, four in Alif Dhaal, two more in Vaavu atoll and one each in Haa Alif, Shaviyani, Baa, Lhaviyani, Faafu and Meemu atolls. One guesthouse in Dhaalu atoll has also resumed services over the past week.

Maldives has a capacity of 1,040 tourist facilities which include 160 safari vessels, 717 hotels and guesthouses and 163 resorts. This means that of the total facility-capacity, 19 safari vessels, seven resorts, 233 guesthouses and hotels are yet to resume operations.

On Thursday the public health authorities revealed that tourists who have not completed the Covid-19 vaccination will be barred from checking into guesthouses established in residential islands. As such, only those who have passed the limit of 14 days after completing both doses of the vaccine can check in to local guesthouses.

The only circumstance under which an unvaccinated tourist can enter a residential island is dependent on the island’s vaccine coverage. As such, around 60 percent of the island’s population must be fully vaccinated. The workers in the sector must be 95 percent vaccinated, 90 percent of those above the age of 65 must also be vaccinated. Unvaccinated tourists who enter islands with the eligible vaccine coverage must do a PCR test within seven days. The same guideline will apply for guesthouses in the capital region.

Maldives reopened borders on 15 July 2020, nearly four months since borders were closed and at first, resorts and liveaboard vessels were given the green light to begin operations. Guesthouses outside of the Greater Malé Region were permitted to resume operations on 15 October 2020. Authorities allowed the reopening of guesthouses in the capital region on 14 December 2020.