The most pragmatic reasons that people choose homestays are because they are 50% cheaper, there are no extra costs and they can avoid taxes. Food is mostly included; hence, they do not spend money eating outside. Home-stayers generally fall into two groups; one, is students attending university education which we do not have in the Maldives. The other, is travellers such as backpackers – or in the case of Maldives, in the future, perhaps long-stay illegal workers on a tourist visa running illegal business in the islands and destroying local MSMEs. Philippines, Thailand, and Indonesia, face challenges in small islands that need protection from cultural and environmental degradation associated with backpacker-tourism. By accommodating a foreign man for a long stay alone with mothers and children at family homes in Maldives while the men are working in a faraway resort invite cultural, social, religious, and family problem. It makes more sense to adopt a system where those empty rooms at homes of the local islands are utilized to accommodate the resort employee’s family. Let the resort employees bring their families with children to study in the nearby islands so after work they can spend time with the families. This creates a better local economy, healthier children and families, and the retention of local resort employees for a longer duration.

I think that the opinions proposed by IATA are important. The travel industry must continue with precautions. Borders should be open. This will help save millions of jobs and thousands of businesses. Maldives can be viewed as a role model for the region and the world, but we shouldn’t take away the safety measures just for the sake of favouring the business. Indeed, health and economy go hand-in-hand. There’s a risk of imported virus and favour of the Dollar income in the same journey. The costs of testing started at 100 USD, and remains the same by government operated IGM Hospital, while private labs and private hospitals have started offering testing for 65 – 70 USD. However, resorts guesthouses and boats are adding a mark-up for the testing charges and selling it to guests for over 160 or 180 USD making about 200 percent profit on the test which becomes an expensive affair to the end tourist who pays for this. We, from the National Boating Association of Maldives, have facilitated to offer the best available market prices to our member boats – with the possibility of collecting samples from certain locations. Hence, it’s wiser to lower margins or do it at the same charge for tourists by tourism establishments, in order to offer an exceptional deal which can attract more tourists and enhance our core values. We should focus on the long term than a quick profit.

I believe we can be cautiously optimistic about Maldives tourism for 2021. The performance of Maldives tourism after reopening on July 15, 2020, has been remarkable, in spite of the continuing COVID-19 crisis globally. This success could be attributed to several factors: the good COVID-19 management within Maldives, the health and safety measures taken by resorts leading to tourists' confidence in the destination, and the fact that many other tourist destinations remain closed. In 2021, Maldives is likely going to face more competition as other destinations reopen, but with strategic marketing and continuity of good COVID management, we can expect to reach or exceed 1 million arrivals.

The Maldives Tourism Industry will ensure the safety of our valuable visitors by cautiously attending to the needs and developments globally. By envisaging the number of tourists coming into the Maldives and adhering to the global and local guidelines set forth, the Maldives will make sure it remains as a safe destination and will take measures to sustain the same.

The Maldives has already implemented mandatory PCR testing for every individual arriving to the country, including locals, ensuring the safety of everyone around us. PCR tests are also mandatory for anyone travelling to resorts at the moment. As our resorts are geographically distanced islands, it is easier for us to slow down the spread. We have been performing social distancing at our best. Moreover, after seeing the positive outcomes of not taking 100% occupancy and restricting split-stays in resorts, we were able to ease these limitations last month. Over the past few months, we have seen a vast decrease in the number of positive cases with our implication, hence, we will make sure to implement the restrictions again if our current situation turns out inadequate