The country's tourism minister said the initiative would start after residents were inoculated.
The island paradise of the Maldives wants to begin vaccinating tourists in the future, the country's tourism minister announced, providing a unique draw to a destination known for its dreamy overwater bungalows and abundant sea life.
The Maldives will implement a "3V Program" — "visit, vaccinate, and vacation" — in an effort to draw travelers back and help the nation meet its goal of seeing 1.5 million tourist arrivals this year, Minister of Tourism Abdulla Mausoom told CNBC on Wednesday. So far, about 350,000 people have visited the Maldives, mainly arriving from India.
Although the timeline to vaccinate visitors wasn't immediately clear, Mausoom said it wouldn't start until after residents were inoculated.
"The main idea of tourism being open is to provide a reasonably safe tourism [experience] with minimum inconvenience," adding nearly 90% of tourism frontline workers have received their first dose. "So once the country gets vaccinated, then we will move on to '3V' tourism."
