Minister of Tourism Dr Abdulla Mausoom, on Monday, asserted that Maldives will reach its target for tourist arrivals by year end, even if United Kingdom (UK) implemented a one-month lockdown, restricting international travel.
UK’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson had announced the implementation of a four-week lockdown from Thursday onwards due to the increasing number of COVID-19 cases in the country.
With this lockdown, international travel will be restricted for all persons except those traveling for necessary purposes.
UK is amongst one of the major source markets for Maldives since the island nation reopened its borders for tourists on July 15 after three months of travel restrictions.
A total of 2,923 UK citizens arrived in Maldives between mid-July and the end of October, including UK citizens living in other countries.
The Maldivian government is aiming for half a million tourist arrivals by year end. Till now, the country has recorded over 420,000 arrivals.
Minister Mausoom had earlier expressed hopes for the industry's recovery, estimating that 1,000,000 tourists would visit Maldives before the end of 2020.
In order to reach the estimated total of 500,000 arrivals for the year, Maldives roughly requires 78,000 additional arrivals.
More countries in Europe are implementing lockdown measures as the virus continues to persist, with Portugal announcing a partial lockdown with 70 percent of the population going back into lockdown, shortly after UK’s announcement.
Also on Saturday, Austria brought in a second lockdown of its own, while Greece declared a partial one. The new measures came just a day after France started its second lockdown and Belgium said it would tighten its measures.
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