Gov't to introduce special stimulus packages for guesthouses

Ministry of Tourism has announced plans to introduce a stimulus package for guesthouse maintenance.

Tourism Minister Abdulla Mausoom revealed this via a virtual meeting held on Sunday where the Guesthouse Association of Maldives (GAM) and a number of individuals active in the local tourism industry were in attendance.

Participants of the meeting shared the challenges and concerns facing the local tourism industry due to the global Covid-19 pandemic, followed by discussions regarding possible solutions that may be reached.

In this regard, Minister Mausoom noted that work is underway to introduce additional stimulus packages, especially for guesthouse maintenance.

Further the minister assured those working in the industry that the ministry will put in its best efforts to resolve the challenges and hindrances facing guesthouses in settling utility bills and taxes.

Guesthouse businesses in residential islands will be allowed to reopen for operations on October 15.

The ministry earlier revealed that this will only be done with the consent from island councils and that it is a major challenge to resume guesthouse operations in October.

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. These include arranging quarantine and isolation procedures beforehand, ensuring the work of task forces on islands are improved and proceeding swiftly, ensuring councils have the proper equipment to collect samples from symptomatic individuals, make isolation arrangements for individuals who turn symptomatic to the virus, implement safety measures under the instructions and guidelines provided by HPA and ensure guesthouse staff members adhere to them as well as enforcing the use of face masks and TraceEkee application.

As guesthouses prepare to resume operations next month, it has been established 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.

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. However, the government decided to extend the reopening of guesthouses after daily Covid-19 cases being reported began soaring.