The island nation is heavily dependent on its tourism industry. This new plan to roll out vaccine packages makes it the first country to do so.
Maldives, however, in an effort to boost its tourism sector, has announced plans to offer tourists the COVID-19 vaccine. The South Asian archipelago’s Tourism Minister Abdulla Mausoom, in an interview with CNBC, made the announcement of a ‘3V’ plan that stands for as an incentive to visit the country.
“The main idea of tourism being open is to provide reasonably safe tourism with minimum inconvenience. So, once the country gets vaccinated, then we will move on to ‘3V’ tourism,” Mausoom said.
ALSO READ |‘Go there, get paid’: Malta to pay foreign tourists who visit for at least 3 daysThe report states that Maldives is heavily dependent on its tourism industry.
As such, the vaccine will be given to visiting tourists once all residents and nationals have been vaccinated. “I don’t think supply’s a problem in Maldives because our population is relatively small,” Mausoom was quoted as saying. “The quota we get from the various organisations and friendly nations also will help.”
ALSO READ |Visiting Maldives in 2021: Here’s everything you need to knowThe report also states that Maldives has received 3,50,000 arrivals this year, as holidaymakers — primarily from India — take advantage of the country’s limited entry requirements.
At the moment, Maldives is accepting visitors with a negative PCR test taken less than three days before travel, or who are fully vaccinated. This new plan to roll out vaccine packages makes it the first country to do so.
