Over 70 tourist vessels have been given the approval to restart operations.

National Boating Association of Maldives (NBAM) said that the Ministry of Tourism gave approval to restart operations to a total of 78 tourist vessels on Thursday.

While Maldives’ borders were closed on March 27 following the Covid-19, the country reopened them for international travel on July 15.

It has since been 37 days, and over 5,000 tourists have visited the island nation during this period.

An official from Velana International Airport said that there was an increase in tourist arrivals in the first 15 days of August, compared to the last 15 days of July.

The country’s tourism industry was restarted with guidelines to be followed amid the pandemic, which includes a ban on tourists visiting any inhabited islands.

Similarly, tourists on safari boats will not be allowed to do so as well.

The country 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.