UK eases travel restrictions to Maldives

The United Kingdom has eased travel restrictions to Maldives, reversing its previous advisory against traveling to Maldives.

In an announcement on Thursday, the British High Commission in Maldives unveiled the decision allowing travelers from Maldives to UK to travel without the need to self-isolate on arrival.

The change is effective from 4am, GMT on October 25, upcoming Sunday.

Following the announcement, the British High Commissioner to Maldives, Caron Röhsler expressed delight on the lifting of travel restrictions, highlighting that the tourism industry in both countries confirm that there is “pent-up” demand among British tourists.

She expressed hope for the Maldives tourism to flourish once again, with the UK’s flag carrier, British Airways having resumed operation of flights to Maldives and scheduling three weekly flights to be operated on Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays as well as many other commercial routes in the island nation.

Stressing that the global Covid-19 pandemic is still sweeping across the globe, Röhsler stated that travel risk assessments are reviewed and may be changed in the Maldives.

Röhsler shed light on the importance of learning to live with the global pandemic “until we can vaccinate against it” and “hopefully eliminate it”.

She further noted that the change in UK travel restrictions is based on the number of Covid-19 cases in a country and a combination of other risk factors.

The “steady” decline in cases, which are mostly in the epicenter of the virus, the greater Malé region, was important to reach this outcome, she added.

This outcome came as a result of a “lot of hard work” by several including the government, the Health Protection Agency (HPA) and healthcare workers especially, law enforcement, and the travel and tourism associations as well as private companies of all kinds

“The hard work is paying off and I congratulate everyone who has played their part”, said an enthusiastic High Commissioner.

In mid-September, Maldives was awarded the ‘Safe Travels Stamp’ by the World Travel and Tourism Council in recognition of the government’s efforts in implementing enhance health and safety measures, in line with the WTTC global ‘Safe Travels’ protocol and creating a safe, gradual plan by rebuilding confidence among travelers and ensuring a coordinated approach in restarting the country’s tourism industry.

Maldives reopened borders for international travel on July 15 after nearly four months since it was closed down on March 27.

The source of well over two-thirds of foreign currency to the country, tourism contributes over a quarter of the country’s GDP. Every other job-creating and revenue-generating activity in the country is either directly or indirectly dependent on the tourism industry. The industry came to a complete standstill once borders were closed down and the country saw a major reduction in tourist arrivals despite having aimed to break the tourist arrival record of 2019.