This holiday hotspot offers vaccinations to visitors

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(CNN) – It was one of the first countries to fully reopen to travelers, and now the Maldives is striving to be ahead of the game when it comes to vaccine tourism.

Officials from the Indian Ocean have announced plans to offer vaccinations to tourists on arrival, in an attempt to attract more visitors.

Dr Abdulla Mausoom, the country’s tourism minister, confirmed that the Maldives is developing a “3V tourism” system that would allow tourists to “visit, get vaccinated and go on holiday”.

According to Mausoom, the country intends to offer two doses of vaccine to visitors, which means that those who sign up for it should stay in the Maldives for a few weeks.

He hopes the program will help boost tourism on the Indian Ocean archipelago, which had an average of 1.7 million visitors a year before the pandemic.

Vaxication Program

Tourists relax on the beach on Hulhumale, one of the two artificial islands built up to 3 meters above sea level, near the capital Male

The Maldives intends to offer vaccinations to travelers to stimulate tourism.

Carl Court / Getty Images

However, international travelers eager to book a “vaxicare” package in the Maldives will have to wait, at least for now.

The “3V” scheme will not continue until the entire population of the country, estimated at just under 550,000, is fully vaccinated.

“The main idea of ​​opening up tourism is to provide tourism that is reasonably safe and with minimal inconvenience,” Mausoom told CNBC International recently.

“So, once the country is vaccinated, then we will move to ‘3V’ tourism.”

He went on to confirm that about 53% of the population received the first dose of vaccine, including 90% of front-line tourism workers.
In February, Thoyyib Mohame, CEO of Maldives Marketing & PR Corporation, told CNN Travel that the country received 555,494 visitors in 2020, exceeding the adjusted arrival forecast of 500,000.

“Our biggest advantage is the unique geographical features of the Maldives,” he said, explaining that the fact that guests can be scattered on its islands proved to be particularly attractive to travelers and also meant that social distancing measures have was slightly easier to maintain.

“We have promoted the destination as a safe haven for tourists.”

Strong supply

Mausoom hopes the vaccination program will push the number of visitors up even more, but do they come from the jab and will the Maldives be able to provide enough to meet the demand of international travelers?

According to the minister, the country has received vaccine donations from India, China, as well as from the Covax scheme of the World Health Organization and is currently awaiting an additional order from Singapore.

“I don’t think supply is a problem in the Maldives because our population is relatively small,” he told CNBC. “The share we receive from various friendly organizations and nations will also help.”

However, he did not specify whether travelers will be charged for receiving the vaccine.

There are currently at least 500 resorts and guest houses in the Maldives, which are open to international visitors, but its capital Malé remains banned.

The Maldives closed its borders at the end of March, but officials opted for the full reopening of all unrestricted international travelers in July.

While visitors were forced to test negative for Covid-19 on arrival in September, the destination continued to receive travel in recent months, with cases remaining relatively low.

Lilit Marcus and Julia Buckley also contributed to this report.

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