With the number of tourist arrivals to Maldives seeing a sharp decline due to the ongoing war in the Middle East, the government has announced that two new visas are to be introduced to boost longer tourist stays.
Speaking at a press conference held today by the Cabinet committee formed to address challenges faced due to the war, Minister of Tourism and Environment Thoriq Ibrahim said that the government is working on introducing an easy way to extend the 30-day on-arrival visa currently granted to visiting tourists.
He announced that the two new visas will be 'Remote Working Visa' and 'Content Creator Visa'.
"To explore ways in which remote workers can come to the Maldives and continue their work here. Especially, if remote workers or content creators come and work from the Maldives, then guesthouses will be able to increase their occupancy. That's what we are working towards now," Thoriq explained.
The minister noted that tourist arrivals have decreased by about 21 percent since the start of the month due to the closure of airspace in the Middle East, a major transit hub for tourists visiting the Maldives.
Hence, tourism in Maldives has been further analyzed, and the government is now working on expanding to additional forms of tourism, including sports fishing, big game fishing, technical and recreational diving and such, according to the Minister.
"It's been 40 years now since spear fishing, under sports fishing, was banned in the Maldives. But we will lift the ban now," Thoriq announced.
Further, the Tourism Minister said that the government plans on making arrangements to attract chartered superyachts, as well as for researchers to easily base themselves in the Maldives.
