Male’, Maldives – Bookings to the Maldives from the UK have increased by nearly 500 percent since the island destination was added to the travel corridor list by the British government, says the travel agencies of UK.
Advantage Travel Partnership told media that this has provided “a glimmer of hope to travel agents up and down the country and consumers in search of some winter sun.”
“There is definitely pent-up demand from travellers and we are seeing a very late booking market because of the unpredictability of destinations being added and removed from the UK government’s quarantine list,” Advantage Travel Partnership’s Leisure Director Kelly Cookes said, as per Travel Trade Maldives. “We hope that this positive step forward for the industry continues throughout the winter season with the addition of more countries deemed safe for travel.”
According to icelolly.com a 61% week-on-week rise in searches for the Maldives has been documented as well since Maldives landed on the UK’s travel corridor on 25th October, 2020. The statistics by the Ministry of Tourism of Maldives also indicate that the UK has been among the top markets from which tourists come into the country as well.
As the numbers increase, Maldives has been increasing the capacity to cater to visitors by opening up local guesthouses within the atolls as well. As per the current regulations, only pre-approved facilities are allowed to cater to tourists, as the Covid-19 precautions are still being enforced.
As for travelers, those who arrive into the country are required to register with the Maldives Immigration via the IMUGA portal, as well as present a PCR negative certificate, which was taken at most, 96 hours prior to traveling.
