‘Maldives Border Miles’ has been launched, for the first time in the globe.

The loyalty program was launched by Minister of Tourism, Dr. Abdulla Mausoom during an event held on Sunday in commemoration of the ‘World Tourism Day’, celebrated annually on September 27.

The tourism promotion program was initiated by the Maldives Immigration and developed with joint stakeholders

Under the loyalty program, visitors will have the opportunity to earn points each time they cross the border with added points for special occasions.

Visitors enrolled in the program will proceed up three tiers; starting from bronze, ‘Aida’, silver, ‘Antara’ and gold, ‘Abaarana’, they will be entitled to exclusive benefits.

‘Maldives Border Miles’ will grant benefits to visitors at resorts, alongside exclusive services.

The program will be carried out by the Ministry of Tourism, jointly by the Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) and Maldives Airports Company Limited (MACL), from December 01 onward.

Speaking during the event, the Controller General of Immigration, Mohamed Ahmed Hussain revealed that immigration is the face of the country, as immigration officers are the first to greet visitors upon arrival as well as departure.

Maldives celebrated a groundbreaking 1.7 million tourist arrivals within 2019 upon which the government set a goal to break the record with two million tourist arrivals during the ongoing year, which was soiled by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Maldives tourism, which was affected by the pandemic even before the first few cases surfaced on March 7, was at a complete standstill for a little over three months since borders were closed on March 27. The country’s borders were reopened on July 15 and since then, over 16,000 visitors have arrived.