{"id":17339,"date":"2026-07-01T07:50:50","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T02:50:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/?p=17339"},"modified":"2026-07-01T07:50:50","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T02:50:50","slug":"guesthouse-awards-applications-to-open-in-july","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/?p=17339","title":{"rendered":"Guesthouse Awards Applications to Open in July"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Maldives Islamic Bank (MIB) has announced opening the application window for the MIB Guesthouse Awards 2026 on July 15.<\/p>\n<p>The bank has published the eligibility criteria for the awards. The MIB Guesthouse Awards is also the only such award introduced in the Maldives to date specifically aiming to promote the expanding local tourism sector and recognize the outstanding efforts of island-level service providers, guesthouses, and the islands themselves.<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-17342\" src=\"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/MIB-819x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"749\" height=\"936\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/MIB-819x1024.jpg 819w, https:\/\/mbt.mv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/MIB-240x300.jpg 240w, https:\/\/mbt.mv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/MIB-768x960.jpg 768w, https:\/\/mbt.mv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/MIB-150x188.jpg 150w, https:\/\/mbt.mv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/MIB-450x563.jpg 450w, https:\/\/mbt.mv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/MIB.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 749px) 100vw, 749px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>MIB has appointed Crowe Maldives Advisory to ensure fairness and transparency of the evaluation process. According to the bank, the awards have been divided into two tiers to further enhance fair competition amongst applicants.<\/p>\n<h2>Tiers<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Tier 1: Guesthouses with up to 10 rooms<\/li>\n<li>Tier 2: Guesthouses with 11 rooms or more<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Guesthouse Eligibility Criteria<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Must be a legally registered business under the Companies Act of the Maldives<\/li>\n<li>Must possess valid guesthouse operating credentials issued by the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation<\/li>\n<li>Must submit legally required compliance documents (including Tax Clearance Certificate, proof of pension contributions under the Pension Act, and documentation showing compliance with the Employment Act)<\/li>\n<li>Must have been in continuous operation for at least 12 uninterrupted months leading up to the application date and must still be operational<\/li>\n<li>Must have an active listing on an internationally recognized online travel platform (such as Booking.com, Airbnb, Agoda, or TripAdvisor)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Eligibility Criteria for Individuals and Islands<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>For Individuals: Applicants competing for individual awards must be Maldivian citizens, and must not have conflict of interests with either Maldives Islamic Bank or Crowe Maldives Advisory<\/li>\n<li>For Islands: Islands applying for the &#8220;Guesthouse Tourism Champion Island Award&#8221; must be actively and sustainably working to promote tourism at the island level and at the time of application, the total number of operational guesthouse rooms on the island must not be less than 50<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Award Categories<\/h2>\n<p>The MIB Guesthouse Awards 2026 will feature awards across a total of three main categories, that include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>8 specialized awards for guesthouses in each tier<\/li>\n<li>3 individual awards dedicated to professionals in the tourism sector<\/li>\n<li>1 special award recognizing the most outstanding island<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The bank, and organizer, stated that the exact date for the awards gala will be announced later in the near future via its official media channels.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Maldives Islamic Bank (MIB) has announced opening the application window for the MIB Guesthouse Awards 2026 on July 15. The bank has published the eligibility criteria for the awards. The MIB Guesthouse Awards is also the only such award introduced in the Maldives to date specifically aiming to promote the expanding local tourism sector<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":17341,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2948,2423,2424,2508,2464,2506,2429],"tags":[1215,1313,1356,3547,3548,2102,2159],"class_list":["post-17339","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-awards","category-business","category-finance","category-latest-news","category-local-news","category-top-stories-block","category-tourism","tag-local-tourism","tag-maldives-islamic-bank-mib","tag-maldives-tourism","tag-mib-guesthouse-awards","tag-mib-guesthouse-awards-2026","tag-tourism-and-hospitality","tag-travel-and-tourism"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Guesthouse Awards Applications to Open in July - Maldives Business Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/?p=17339\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Guesthouse Awards Applications to Open in July - Maldives Business Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Maldives Islamic Bank (MIB) has announced opening the application window for the MIB Guesthouse Awards 2026 on July 15. The bank has published the eligibility criteria for the awards. The MIB Guesthouse Awards is also the only such award introduced in the Maldives to date specifically aiming to promote the expanding local tourism sector\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/?p=17339\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Maldives Business Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/mvbiztimes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-01T02:50:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Islamic-Bank.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"682\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mohamed Reehaan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@mvbiztimes\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@mvbiztimes\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mohamed Reehaan\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/?p=17339#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/?p=17339\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Mohamed Reehaan\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/#\/schema\/person\/a0eedc1134716e7c8e4da095494670c2\"},\"headline\":\"Guesthouse Awards Applications to Open in July\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-01T02:50:50+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/?p=17339\"},\"wordCount\":365,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/?p=17339#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Islamic-Bank.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Local Tourism\",\"Maldives Islamic Bank (MIB)\",\"Maldives Tourism\",\"MIB Guesthouse Awards\",\"MIB Guesthouse Awards 2026\",\"tourism and hospitality\",\"Travel and Tourism\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Awards\",\"BUSINESS\",\"FINANCE\",\"Latest News\",\"Local News\",\"TOP STORIES - Block\",\"TOURISM\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/?p=17339#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/?p=17339\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/?p=17339\",\"name\":\"Guesthouse Awards Applications to Open in July - Maldives Business Times\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/?p=17339#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/?p=17339#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Islamic-Bank.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-01T02:50:50+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/?p=17339#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/?p=17339\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/?p=17339#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Islamic-Bank.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Islamic-Bank.jpg\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":682,\"caption\":\"Photo: PSM News\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/?p=17339#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Guesthouse Awards Applications to Open in July\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/\",\"name\":\"Maldives Business Times\",\"description\":\"Maldives Business Times delivers timely and in-depth English news on business, economy, and breaking events in the Maldives.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Maldives Business Times\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/background_removed_image_x5KLRjOsQMGL6jgPS4Hiew.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/background_removed_image_x5KLRjOsQMGL6jgPS4Hiew.png\",\"width\":1312,\"height\":736,\"caption\":\"Maldives Business Times\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/mvbiztimes\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/mvbiztimes\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/#\/schema\/person\/a0eedc1134716e7c8e4da095494670c2\",\"name\":\"Mohamed Reehaan\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ac0f3a9111db774c387735910f0eeee4432a0db79cc936fe00f3f0fb05f1af6c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ac0f3a9111db774c387735910f0eeee4432a0db79cc936fe00f3f0fb05f1af6c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Mohamed Reehaan\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/?author=4\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Guesthouse Awards Applications to Open in July - Maldives Business Times","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/?p=17339","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Guesthouse Awards Applications to Open in July - Maldives Business Times","og_description":"The Maldives Islamic Bank (MIB) has announced opening the application window for the MIB Guesthouse Awards 2026 on July 15. The bank has published the eligibility criteria for the awards. The MIB Guesthouse Awards is also the only such award introduced in the Maldives to date specifically aiming to promote the expanding local tourism sector","og_url":"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/?p=17339","og_site_name":"Maldives Business Times","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/mvbiztimes","article_published_time":"2026-07-01T02:50:50+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":682,"url":"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Islamic-Bank.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Mohamed Reehaan","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@mvbiztimes","twitter_site":"@mvbiztimes","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Mohamed Reehaan","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/?p=17339#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/?p=17339"},"author":{"name":"Mohamed Reehaan","@id":"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/#\/schema\/person\/a0eedc1134716e7c8e4da095494670c2"},"headline":"Guesthouse Awards Applications to Open in July","datePublished":"2026-07-01T02:50:50+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/?p=17339"},"wordCount":365,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/?p=17339#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Islamic-Bank.jpg","keywords":["Local Tourism","Maldives Islamic Bank (MIB)","Maldives Tourism","MIB Guesthouse Awards","MIB Guesthouse Awards 2026","tourism and hospitality","Travel and Tourism"],"articleSection":["Awards","BUSINESS","FINANCE","Latest News","Local News","TOP STORIES - Block","TOURISM"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/mbt.mv\/?p=17339#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/?p=17339","url":"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/?p=17339","name":"Guesthouse Awards Applications to Open in July - Maldives Business Times","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/?p=17339#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/?p=17339#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Islamic-Bank.jpg","datePublished":"2026-07-01T02:50:50+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/?p=17339#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/mbt.mv\/?p=17339"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/?p=17339#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Islamic-Bank.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Islamic-Bank.jpg","width":1024,"height":682,"caption":"Photo: PSM News"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/?p=17339#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Guesthouse Awards Applications to Open in July"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/#website","url":"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/","name":"Maldives Business Times","description":"Maldives Business Times delivers timely and in-depth English news on business, economy, and breaking events in the Maldives.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/#organization","name":"Maldives Business Times","url":"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/background_removed_image_x5KLRjOsQMGL6jgPS4Hiew.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/background_removed_image_x5KLRjOsQMGL6jgPS4Hiew.png","width":1312,"height":736,"caption":"Maldives Business Times"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/mvbiztimes","https:\/\/x.com\/mvbiztimes"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/#\/schema\/person\/a0eedc1134716e7c8e4da095494670c2","name":"Mohamed Reehaan","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ac0f3a9111db774c387735910f0eeee4432a0db79cc936fe00f3f0fb05f1af6c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ac0f3a9111db774c387735910f0eeee4432a0db79cc936fe00f3f0fb05f1af6c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Mohamed Reehaan"},"url":"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/?author=4"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17339","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17339"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17339\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17343,"href":"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17339\/revisions\/17343"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/17341"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17339"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17339"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17339"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}