The Tourism Ministry has revealed that only 187 tourists are currently in the Maldives.
The Maldives suspended issuing on-arrival visa to tourists as a measure to curb the spread of COVID-19, which effectively stopped tourism arrivals to the archipelago.
Speaking at the National Emergency Operation Centre (NEOC)'s news briefing on Monday, Tourism Minister Ali Waheed said 187 tourists holidaying in 10 resorts across the Maldives are currently remain the archipelago. All tourists have been relocated to Dream Island Resort, said the minister.
"Currently, there are tourists from 50 different countries. We are working in liaison with the Foreign Ministry to arrange their repatriation," said the minister.
The Maldives welcomed 1.7 million tourists in 2019. The Maldivian economy, a large part of which is dependent on the tourism industry is expected to be hit hard as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
218 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in the Maldives thus far. 20 cases were detected in local resorts before the first case of local transmission was identified in capital Male' on April 15.
