Nearly eight months after the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus, authorities in the Maldives on Tuesday permitted guesthouses and hotels in Male city to start their operations from December 14, Sun news reported. 

Tourism Minister Abdullah Masoom announced the decision by a tweet: “#GreaterMale area hotels and guesthouses will be permitted to operate from 14 December.” 

In the Maldives, the Greater Male region reported most of the coronavirus infections since the start of the global pandemic. Although the government had allowed guesthouses in the residential islands to operate from 15 October. 

Tourists in guesthouses account for 10 percent of total arrival in the country and nearly 6000 people are directly dependent on it for their livelihood. 

The Maldives opened its border for tourists on 15 July and was among the first nations to open borders for tourism. The Indian Ocean archipelago largely depends on tourism for its revenue. The country faced a massive deficit of 50 percent in its state budget after the pandemic induced economic contraction. 

Since July, the government opened the travel industry in a phased manner and recorded a slow, but steady, recovery. Around 100,000 tourists have visited the Maldives since its reopening in July.