After nearly 9 months, hotels and guesthouses in the greater Male’ region have been allowed to reopen from 14th December 2020 onwards.

The news was revealed by the Minister of Tourism Honorable Dr. Abdulla Mausoom via a tweet. Tourists will be required to do an exit COVID-19 PCR test 72 hours prior, he confirmed. The Minister further thanked the President of Maldives, Honorable Ibrahim Mohamed Solih and the Ministry of Health.

While guesthouses in other areas were permitted to reopen from 15th October 2020, Maldives opened borders to all nationalities from 15th July 2020. All guesthouses are in line with the safe tourism guidelines as per the Ministry of Tourism and the local Health Protection Agency. Wearing masks is mandatory in public places for locals as well as tourists at all tourist guesthouse islands. Tourists are not allowed to enter or stay in residential houses, but they are allowed to use public cafes, restaurants and shops which follow the COVID-19 preventative measures.

Furthermore, visitors are granted a 30-day free on-arrival visa with a confirmed booking for a stay at any registered tourist facility in the country.

Before traveling to Maldives, an online health declaration form is to be filled within 24 hours prior to departure to Maldives. A negative COVID-19 PCR test is also required which is conducted 96 hours prior to departure to Maldives. 

Further to this, tourists are encouraged to use the contact tracing app “TraceEkee” and if in isolation/quarantine, they are required to register on “Haalu Belun” portal.

“Split-stay” is allowed between all tourist establishments with prior approval taken from the Ministry of Tourism. However, tourists are not allowed to travel from a tourist guesthouse island to a non-tourist guesthouse island.