Addu City, Maldives – Tourism Minister of Maldives, Dr. Abdullah Mausoom has reassured that Shangri-La Villingili Resort and Spa and Canareef Resort Maldives will restart their operations before 2022.
Speaking at the land handover ceremony for development and operation of tourist hotels and guest houses in Addu City, Minister Dr. Mausoom stated that this would be the solution for people who had lost their jobs amid the closure of the two resorts last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Ministers reassurance on the reopening of the two resorts comes while he had previously told that both resorts are expected to reopen in 2021. In a meeting with Addu Development Committee (ADC), Minister Dr. Mausoom had told that the ministry was in talks with both resorts management and hopefully both would be reopened.
Speaking with ‘The Times of Addu’ last year, Minister Mausoom said that the utilization of existing beds in Addu City is vital to restart the tourism industry in the city, and that it is vital for Canareef and Shangri-La to resume operations for this to happen.
The Minister detailed that there is hope that Canareef will open ‘very soon’, and that Addu’s tourism will start to flourish in the year 2021. However, he did not specify an exact date, explaining that there are still some work to be done with regards to the opening for the resort.
Currently, the city’s tourism is suffering due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which caused the two main resorts operating in the city to be indefinitely shut down, while guesthouses also incur insurmountable losses with international flights not operating to the Gan International Airport.
