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Maldivian resort suffers loss in millions of US Dollars over new Covid variant

Lamya Abdulla
01 December 2021, MVT 14:29
(FILE) Tourists arriving at Maldives on October 29, 2021: the new regulation banning arrivals from South Africa has lead to a luxury resort in Maldives to go empty for five days -- Photo: Fayaz Moosa / Mihaaru
Lamya Abdulla
01 December 2021, MVT 14:29

A Maldivian resort suffers loss in millions of US Dollars over a cancellation due to the Omicron Covid variant first detected in South Africa.

Mihaaru News reported that a luxury resort in Maldives had been booked for five days by a company in Johannesburg, South Africa, in May. The company had booked the entire resort to accommodate 300 of their staff who were set to arrive on Monday. However, as the new announcement made by Health Protection Agency (HPA) on November 27 bans tourist arrivals from seven countries including South Africa, that booking had been cancelled.

The tourists were set to arrive on two flights via Maafaru International Airport.

"This resort was exclusively booked by this company. For the rooms alone it would have cost around USD one million. Including the other expenses, this is a huge loss for the resort," Mihaaru News reported citing an anonymous source.

"The resort will be empty for the next five days. We can't find tourists on such a short notice."

Countries all over the globe started reopening their borders slowly over the past six months after closing them to curb the spread of Covid in 2020. The World Health Organization (WHO) has advised to combat the new variant without closing its borders as they fear targeted closures would lead to countries to not disclosing new variants they may detect in the future.

Maldives welcomes around 1,500 tourists per month from African nations.

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