International media has recognised the success the Maldivian tourism industry has achieved amid the COVID-19 pandemic, compared to other destinations around the world.
The success of the Maldivian tourism industry was highlighted in an article published by the multinational television network CNN. The article highlighted that despite the significant decrease in tourist arrivals last year due to COVID-19, Maldives was one of the most successful tourism stories amid the pandemic.
Despite the closure of borders for 110 days last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of tourist arrivals following the reopening of borders in July had exceeded expectations. As such, although the Ministry of Tourism projected 500,000 arrivals for the year 2020, a total of 555,494 arrivals were recorded by the end of the year. While this was only a fraction of the 1.7 million arrivals recorded during the previous year, the figure resembled the rapid progress the Maldives achieved in recovering the tourism industry.
The CNN article stated while many other destinations slammed their borders closed, the Maldives chose to fully reopen to travelers from any country, regardless of the status of the virus there, in July 2020. Noting part of the decision was financial, due to the high dependency of the Maldivian economy on tourism revenue, the article said the country's geography also lends itself well to COVID-19 protocols as many hotels and resorts are on their own private islands. The article said Maldives was able to market itself as a safe haven for tourists, as isolating and social distancing could be carried out easily due to the geographical formation of the country.
Tourist arrivals have been increasing steadily since the reopening of borders. Ministry of Tourism has set a target of 1.5 million tourist arrivals for 2021. The ministry states the nationwide vaccination programme is a major boost to the efforts to reach this target.