Welcome Back to the Sunny Side! Maldives’ Grand Border Re-opening Event
Wednesday 15th of July 2020
Welcome Back to the Sunny Side! Maldives’ Grand Border Re-opening Event
On 23rd June, the President of Maldives Ibrahim Mohamed Solih had officially announced that the Maldives will be re-opening borders to the world on 15th of July, after 3 months of closing international tourism due to the pandemic. The country marks a significant occasion today, as the most important industry of this economy restarts.
A grand event was held this morning at Velana International Airport, before the very first flight, a Qatar Airways QR 672, landed at 8 25am The event was held with the presence of Economic Minister Fayaz, Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation Aishath Nahula and high positions of Ministry of Tourism, Maldives Marketing & Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC), MACL and Velana International Airport.
This will be followed by another international arrival at 12 pm by Sri Lankan Airlines. In the Qatar flight, a total of 129 passengers were on board, the majority from Europe, who all received a water salute as a warm welcome to the Maldives when they arrived. The passengers were wearing masks and face shields.
Qatar Airways implemented new procedures throughout the journey, from check in to arrival at the destination. While the cabin crew were wearing PPE suits on board, passengers were required to wear masks and face shields from boarding to disembarkation at their destination. All facilities and objects in the flight were cleaned.
Speaking at the event, Economic Minister Fayaz, and temporary Tourism Minister, stated that "all stakeholders worked jointly to make this happen. We are talking to more destinations on bringing tourists. They look for the procedures in the Maldives. The new normal safety must be a priority for all service providers. This will encourage more people coming."
"Its a new, difficult and different situation today but we have measures in place to tackle and sustain the border opening. Marketing has changed to digital now but we will continue working double effort for key markets," said Managing Director of MMPRC, Thoyyib Mohamed.
According to the Guidelines, tourists will not be subjected to any quarantine measures and medical test results upon arrival. However, those with symptoms will be subjected to a PCR test upon arrival at the traveller’s cost. A health declaration card will be required as part of the on arrival procedure.
Further, Maldives Immigration has introduced an electronic “Traveller Health Declaration” to expedite the process of pre-arrival and pre-departure health information in accordance with the health requirements of the Maldives. As such, guests have to submit this self-declarative health declaration electronically to Maldives Immigration, 24 hours prior to the departure to the Maldives and 24 hours prior to the departure from the Maldives.