The Maldives lifted the public health emergency, almost two years after the pandemic began in March 2022, President Ibrahim Mohammed Solih announced in a speech, removing all restrictions imposed on inbound travelers irrespective of their vaccination status. 

The move came on Sunday in the wake of the ongoing war in Ukraine, which will certainly impact the Maldives’s tourism-dependent economy. Both Russia and Ukraine, the two countries at war now,  were top source markets for the archipelago’s tourism. 

Acknowledge the potential economic impact, President Solih in a speech on Sunday said the government has been taking steps to mitigate the economic implications of the ongoing war on the country’s tourism. He also urged both countries to find a solution to the conflict through “dialogue” to end people’s “sufferings.”

Significantly, earlier this month, the Maldives had condemned Russia’s military actions. 

In the last two years, the Maldives has suffered losses of over $4.6 billion due to the pandemic, Solih said in his speech. The tourism sector, the backbone of the country’s economy, which contributes around 70 percent of the total government revenue, suffered a big blow in the last two years. 

He also thanked New Delhi for support during the last two years of the economic disruption. 

“India was the country that donated the highest number of vaccines to the Maldives…India bought $250 million in bonds to mitigate economic losses. They donated medical equipment.” Solih said in his speech. 

Besides India, he also thanked Japan, the United States, the United Arab Emirates, China,  Bangladesh, and the World Health Organization (WHO) for their support to the country.

Significantly, this year, a fifth of the total tourists in the Maldives were coming from Russia and Ukraine. However, the situation in Ukraine and severe economic sanctions on Russia have dampened that trend.

Abdullah Masoom, the country’s tourism minister who was credited for reviving the industry after the Covid setback, said that the losses due to the war can be compensated if China allows outbound travelers.

Prior to the pandemic, China was the top contributor to the Maldives’ tourism. However, with the recent Covid-19 surge in some cities there, Beijing is unlikely to permit outbound travel. 

(SAM)