Guesthouses to resume operations in islands, with consent from council

The Ministry of Tourism has revealed that guesthouse businesses in residential islands will only be given the green light to begin operations, with the consent from the island council.

During a virtual press conference held on Wednesday, recently-appointed Tourism Minister Dr. Abdulla Mausoom revealed that the guesthouse business plays a major role in the tourism industry, however, it is a major challenge to reopen guesthouses on October 15 as well.

Dr. Mausoom revealed that guesthouses will only be reopened in regions outside of the Greater Malé Region due to the escalating Covid-19 situation in the country’s capital and that if the situation improves, restrictions will eventually be eased.

Highlighting that there are a set of conditions to reopen guesthouses, the minister noted that this will be done under the guidelines and instructions provided by the relevant authorities and that the government aims to carry out the procedure in a way that sets an example globally.

There will be a number of tasks required to be completed by the island council as well as guesthouses, before reopening.

Shedding light on the details of these tasks, Deputy Minister Assad Riza revealed that guesthouse businesses in islands will only be permitted to reopen for services upon approval from the island councils.

Assad went on to reveal that councils will be required to send in the required documents to the ministry, after discussions with the island residents.

Further, quarantine and isolation arrangements are required to be made prior to launching services and the island councils are required to make sure of it, alongside ensuring the work of taskforces on islands are improved and proceeding swiftly.

Councils are also tasked with ensuring they have the proper equipment to collect samples from symptomatic individuals.

Senior Policy Director at the ministry, Ali Razzan noted that guesthouses are required to make isolation arrangements for individuals who turn symptomatic to the virus. Further, they are required to implement safety measures under the instructions and guidelines provided by HPA and ensure staff members adhere to them.

Staff members at guesthouses are required to wear face masks at all times and use the TraceEkee application.

Further, he noted that tourists will be allowed to seek services from cafés, restaurants and shops as well as transport services. However, they are banned from entering local residences.

Should a tourist test positive for the virus while on the island or exhibit symptoms, the tourist should immediately go into isolation, upon which the facility on the island must be informed. Until results come back, such tourists are required to remain in isolation.

On Tuesday, the ministry announced that guesthouses will be allowed to resume services on October 15.

The newly-appointed minister earlier revealed that the government believes it is time to permit guesthouses to operate across the country.

On July 15, the government reopened borders for international travel after over three months since borders were closed on March 27. The president announced during June that tourist resorts and liveaboard vessels would resume operations in July while guesthouses would remain closed until August. Later on, the government decided to extend the reopening of guesthouses, following an alarming surge in daily Covid-19 cases being reported of recent.