Requirements of safe tourism stamp met by Maldives

The Tourism Ministry has said that neighboring Sri Lanka was awarded a safe tourism stamp from the World Travel and Tourism Council, an organization of which the Maldives was not a member of. 

The stamp for safe tourism is awarded by the Council to its member countries only, which means that the Maldives, also a powerhouse in world tourism, was not awarded one. Criticism has been directed at authorities in the Maldives after Sri Lanka was awarded the stamp. 

When asked the importance of such a stamp in increasing tourist arrivals, the Tourism Ministry said that if industry partners viewed it as important, the government would obtain membership of the WTTC and obtain the stamp.

“We are now in discussion with industry members over the importance of the stamp. Whether it is so important that we need to gain membership. Requirements in obtaining this stamp has already been fulfilled by the Maldives.” Said Tourism Ministry Senior Executive Director Ali Razzaan. 

The stamp is awarded after tourist establishments meet certain requirements in terms of safety and hygiene. WTTC stated that the stamp would gain the trust of tourists to the establishment and country. 

Razzaan said that the Maldives was a member of PATA and UNWTO, before stating that the Maldives would work to gain such a safety standard if the organizations were awarding one.

The Maldives reopened its borders on July 15 after a lockdown on the nation due to COVID-19. The country received 1,769 tourists in 15 days since reopening. The number of tourist arrivals to the Maldives depends on the source markets and their border reopening. 

The government had pushed back the reopening date for guesthouses after initially planning to reopen on August 1. However, resorts in the country are permitted to operate under stringent safety measures. The Ministry expects a surge in tourist arrivals in the last three months of 2020. The government has an ambitious target of reaching 850,000 tourist arrivals in 2020.