The sunny side of life is back in business, almost four months after the suspension of on-arrival visas as a precautionary measure against the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.

While Maldives’ borders were closed to tourists on March 27, the first group of tourists arrived via Qatar Airways on Wednesday. While this is the first commercial flight to land at Velana International Airport since borders closed, a total of 107 tourists and 24 locals arrived in the country via this flight.

A number of senior government officials were present at the airport for the landing of the first commercial flight, including Minister of Economic Development and Acting Tourism Minister Fayyaz Ismail.

Speaking to media, the minister stressed that Maldives has one of the safest tourism offerings in the world, enabled by the country’s “unique geography”.

Further noting that Maldives ‘strong health response to the crisis’, Fayyaz urged all “to discover the sunny side of life”. He stressed that safeguarding the health and safety of the tourists is of utmost importance, as the country restarts the tourism industry.

While Maldives’ first group of tourists since the pandemic arrived on Wednesday morning, they were welcomed with a ‘water salute’ organized by the Maldives Airports Company Limited (MACL).

Noting that the tourism sector is the “worst hit of all major economic sectors” due to the Covid-19 outbreak, a joint press release by the tourism ministry and the Maldives Marketing and PR Corporation (MMPRC) said that “this is especially true in the Maldives, where tourism accounts for the majority of foreign exchange earnings”.

It added that the industry was only given the go ahead to resume “following extensive consultations with health professionals and all stakeholders” to ensure the safety and well-being of both the tourists and the people.

In order to ensure this, the tourism ministry has issued a safe tourism guideline along with a certification program to ensure the safety and hygiene standards of all tourism facilities”.

While resorts, hotels and liveaboards located on uninhabited islands have been allow to resume operations with the reopening of borders, authorities are working to reopen hotels and guesthouses located in inhabited islands from August 1.

A total of 40 resorts are resuming operations from Wednesday.

Maldives welcomed a record breaking 1,7 million tourist arrivals in 2019, and a two million target was made for 2020. However, following the pandemic, this has been reduced to 850,000 visitors.