Maldives has been excluded from a list of destinations the German government considers as COVID-19 risk areas, raising hope that the Maldives may soon begin seeing visitors from one of its oldest and most important tourist source markets.

“Maldives is among the few countries in the world, and the only country from the region that is not on the list (of COVID-19 risk areas),” the Minister of Tourism, Ali Waheed, revealed. He also noted that being excluded from the list is a major boost to the efforts to bring back international tourists to the country.

This news is followed by the official statement given by the President of Maldives, HEP Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, declaring that the country will reopen its borders and restart tourism on 15th July, 2020.

Germany is one of the key traditional source markets for the Maldives’ tourism industry. Arrivals from Germany saw 11.9 percent year-over-year increase in 2019, as the numbers of German tourists rose to 131, 561. The German market contributes to 7.2 percent of the total market share, making it one of the top European markets to Maldives. In January 2020, 173, 347 visits were recorded which is a 14.4 percent growth, compared to January 2019.