More concerned over rising cases than fewer Indian tourist arrivals: Minister Mausoom

Tourism Minister Dr. Abdulla Mausoom has stated that he is more concerned over the effect rising Covid-19 cases will have on Maldives' tourism, than fewer Indian tourists travelling to the Maldives due to the fatal infection.

Minister Mausoom made the remarks while speaking to Raajje MV, revealing that the Tourism Ministry had expected April to close out with over 100,000 arrivals reported. However, the number of tourist arrivals being reported from the Maldives' second-largest tourist market in India were seen to decrease, as the Covid-19 infection ravaged the neighboring nation over the past few weeks.

In providing detailed statistics, Minister Mausoom shared that while 800 tourists were visiting the Maldives on average at the start of the year, that number had decreased to 600 tourist arrivals per day in April. Minister Mausoom stated that fewer than 200 tourists were visiting the Maldives every day now, and that the downturn would persist for a few days before improving with the Covid-19 situation in India.

Minister Mausoom added that he was relieved that European countries had begun to retract travel restrictions, as it meant European tourists could visit the Maldives at this time. However, Minister Mausoom noted that European countries placed travel restrictions based on the degree of spread of Covid-19 among a nation's population, and stated that tourists may hesitate to travel to or vacation in the Maldives due to the increase in Covid-19 cases being reported of late. Mausoom remarked that tourists would not wish to vacation in the Maldives if they would have to undergo quarantine upon their return home.

In highlighting some of the pressing issues faced with the tourism sector due to Covid-19, Minister Mausoom stated that he was concerned with how they would impact the tourism market in Maldives. Dr. Abdulla Mausoom added that the Ministry of Tourism had been sharing news from the Maldives' tourism sector with foreigners, and that the number of positive Covid-19 cases being detected from among tourists at resorts had remained steadily low, and had been observed to decrease.

Minister Mausoom revealed that tourists were testing positive from resorts from PCR tests taken prior to their departure, and that those in the tourism sector were now well-versed in the pandemic procedures set in place to control the spread of Covid-19.

Minister Mausoom went on to assert a strong belief that Maldives would be able to achieve its arrival targets by the end of the year, highlighting that the tourism sector was capable enough of achieving that goal.

While Minister Mausoom made these remarks on Wednesday morning, India, which had contributed 23 percent of all arrivals to the country and was the top-source market for Maldives tourism, is now second place behind Russia. Tourists from Russia currently make up 22.4 percent of all arrivals, with visitors from India contributing 21.9 percent of all tourist arrivals to the Maldives.