598 guesthouses open for tourists across Maldives
Over the past week, one guesthouse resumed operations
A guesthouse in the Greater Malé Region
The doors of 598 guesthouses are open for tourists across the Maldives.
The latest weekly statistics publicized by the Ministry of Tourism reveal that one guesthouse resumed operations in Rakeedhoo island of Vaavu atoll resumed services anew, over the past week.
With the resuming of services in one guesthouse, the total operational capacity of tourist accommodation establishments has risen to 912.
Of these, 160 are resorts, 598 are guesthouses, 10 are hotels and 144 are liveaboard vessels.
The number of operational beds increased to 52,050 as well, of which 37,352 are in resorts, 1,360 are in hotels, 10,492 are in guesthouses and 2,846 are in safari vessels.
Maldives currently has a capacity of 1,122 tourist facilities which include 157 safari vessels, 798 hotels and guesthouses and 167 resorts. This means that of the total facility-capacity, 13 safari vessels, seven resorts, 190 guesthouses and hotels are yet to resume operations.
According to a publication by the Maldives Health Protection Agency (HPA), tourists who have not completed the Covid-19 vaccination will be barred from checking into guesthouses 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.
Nearly four months since borders were closed, Maldives reopened borders on 15 July 2020 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.
