Maldives' Reopening - Small and Big Wins to Learn From
Wednesday 9th of September 2020
Maldives' Reopening - Small and Big Wins to Learn From
Since the global pandemic, COVID-19, hit the entire world, Maldives has been one of the nations that suffered a severe downfall in the economy of the Maldives and after the borders were once again reopened for travellers, some hope sparked in the Maldives that they just might limp to recovery.
However, with the reopening of borders in July 15th, while usually Maldives is the one that surprises tourists, this time, tourists surprised Maldives by crossing the 1000 mark right on July itself, with 1752 arrivals. On August, even a larger flux of tourists followed, with over 7628 visitors. This has led resorts to believe that Maldives is not going to just limp its way to recovery but is rather going to run in the big race.
Despite the AFP report last Wednesday, that Maldives will be tightening tourist virus rules due to the spike in cases, which could result in consumers’ confidence sinking to visit the Maldives, due to the growing concern on the safety, there is still much hope for the Maldives and here is why.
The new requirement, is actually good news for the resorts, that want the government to mandate that tourists either produce a COVID-free certificate or get tested on arrival. Resorts such as Soneva, and Crown and Champa Resorts in Maldives have initiated to do their own tests to bolster guests’ confidence with one of the best real-time PCR test machines, giving the safety of holidaying in the Maldives.
So far, resorts in the Maldives, just have their fingers crossed and are learning to be complacent with just the smallest things that shine a ray of hope. For a country that welcomed 1.7 million last year, or around 91,000 a month, the current numbers might be distressing, but they understand that given the situation, this is a huge milestone.
Around 60 resorts have been opened so far and another 60 are scheduled to open in September and October just in time for the winter season. The opening of resorts represents huge marketing for Maldives tourism as its one-island-one-resort uniqueness reinforces the idea that the Maldives isn’t one destination but over 100 different ones to choose from. With luck, Maldives could be one of the few destinations in the world that ends 2020 with a bang rather than the whimper when it reopened.
This is a summary of a report featured on Skift.
Cover: https://visitmaldives.com