Author: Mohamed Reehaan

A team of reporters and correspondents representing various Middle-Eastern media outlets arrived in the Maldives for a tourism familiarization trip. The team had arrived in Maldives on an invitation by the trip’s organizer Visit Maldives, while it has been reported that the group will remain in the country from 15th until 20th October 2021. According to Visit Maldives, the team included writers, journalists, editors and others from Travel & Tourism News – TTN, Al Press, Al Bayan and Travel Trendz International. These outlets target all key segments of the Middle Eastern audience from high-end affluent segments to the budget travelers.…

Recent updates from Ministry of Tourism reveal that the total number of tourists arriving in Maldives reached over 923,000; which confirms the arrival has crossed 90% of projected arrivals in the year’s budget. Moreover, according to the projection included in the budget for 2021, Maldives aimed to attract a total of 01 million holidaymakers by the end of the year. Furthermore, the official Twitter handle of the Government of Maldives attest that the island nation was among the first countries to reopen the borders to tourists while 93% of all resort employees have already been fully vaccinated against Covid-19. Meanwhile,…

A recent study from World Bank on the global debt issue identifies that the foreign direct investment in the Maldives has decreased to USD348 million in 2020. Moreover, this indicates a decline of USD607 million when compared with the annual total of USD956 million in 2019 – pre-Covid. Furthermore, World Bank attests this decline in foreign direct investment in the Maldives is over the delays of several resort and hotel projects due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The tourism industry of the island nation has always covered the majority of foreign investments in the Maldives. Apart from the Maldives, foreign direct…

Accor Hotels properties in the Maldives is offering free domestic return transfers from Velana International Airport. The hotelier group boasts a total of five luxurious properties in the island nation which include Fairmont and Movenpick properties in the north as well as the Raffles, Pullman and Mercure resorts in the south. Meanwhile, travelers can save up to USD1,200 per couple on return transfers with Accor’s “For the love of barefoot luxury” offer with complimentary domestic round trip transfers for two persons along with daily breakfast and easy cancellation options. Moreover, the offer is applicable for bookings from 18th October until…

Amid the ongoing school holidays, EyeCare Opticals has announced their latest promotion with an exciting prize. According to the leading eye care provider in the country, the special promotion from 16th October until 31st October will grant customers to participate in a lucky-draw following their shopping at the EyeCare outlets. Moreover, customers making purchases exceeding MVR1,000 will be subjected to entry coupons for the lucky-draw. Customers are expected to provide their full name, National ID card number along with contact number on the coupons. Furthermore, the winner of this lucky-draw will be announced on 06th November 2021, while the winner…

The total tourist arrivals to Maldives as of 13th October has reached 923,146 according to the Ministry of Tourism. Meanwhile the total tourist arrivals from 01st until 13th of October stood at 52,284 which is a 585.8% improvement from the same period in 2020; where the tourist arrivals stood at just 7,624. However, the tourist arrivals during the review period is still 11.0% below the arrival total during the same period in 2019, where the it stood at 58,738. Indian continues to maintain top source market position to the Maldives with a total of 211,062 tourist arrivals so far to…

Villa College signs a Memorandum of Understanding with Island Aviation Services Limited to host special training sessions for the students of the college studying in aviation fields. The signing ceremony was held on Sunday at Villa College, while the agreement between the parties ensure that 60 students enrolled in the National Certificate Level 3 of Reservations and Ticketing will receive the training. Moreover, the training session will run for a period of 10 weeks while 50% of the course have been designed with practical components. Furthermore, the course falls under the Skills for Resilient Work-Force program run by Ministry of…

Maldives Transport and Contracting Company (MTCC) that runs one of the strongest ferry services in the country reports on cancelling multiple ferry service trips over worsening weather conditions. According to MTCC, the company reported on cancelling 26 ferry service trips on Sunday, 17th October while 23 out of the these were due to bad weather. Meanwhile, the Maldives Meteorological Service has issued out a yellow alert in the area between Haa Alif and Thaa atoll, confirming possibility of strong winds between 25 to 30 miles-per-hour and gusts reaching 50 miles-per-hour. Furthermore, the seas across the island nation have been rougher…

Effective from 17th October 2021, Bank of Maldives (BML) has confirmed on increasing the limit of foreign transactions via credit cards. According to the national bank of the island nation, the limit has now been increased to USD750 reflected on the bank issued American Express (Green/Gold), Visa (Classic/Gold) and Mastercard (Standard/Gold). Meanwhile, the existing limit of USD250 will continue for all debit cards used locally which are linked to Maldivian Rufiyaa accounts. Furthermore, customers living abroad will have a limit of USD750 per month per debit card while customers with other credit cards not aforementioned will have increased limits based…

The combined bed capacity of Maldives tourist industry have increased to 55,921 in light of the increment in operational tourist resorts. According to the latest updates from Ministry of Tourism, the total number of tourist resorts currently in operation have increased to 166. Meanwhile, total number of tourist properties inclusive of luxury resorts have already reached 1,107 – which includes city hotels, boutique hotels and guesthouses. As such the latest reports confirm a total of 782 operational hotels and guesthouses and another 159 safaris and liveaboards. Furthermore, the combined bed capacity of tourist resorts exclusively has reached to 38,849 while…